The Blood of Olympus
by Bookworm1756
Summary: Though the members of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating Gaea. Her giants have risen and they're stronger than ever. They must be stopped before August first, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed. The Roman legion is on the verge of attack, and as dangerous as it is to head to Athens, the Seven have no choice.
1. I PERCY

**Hello, Bookworm here with a new story! It took me FOREVER to get the outline done, but now that it is I started typing!**

**I'm only doing this once this entire story, so pay attention: I am not Rick. If I was, I would keep my version of BoO for an entire year and make all of the fandom suffer. (Ha, ha... BoO. Boo. BOO! That is so much fun to say.)**

**PS: I spent a super long time trying to have the story sound like Rick's style of writing and have all the characters not OOC. Please give me feedback and tell me how I did!**

* * *

**I PERCY**

PERCY THOUGHT WARS WERE BAD. How he ended up in two of them was beyond his human capabilities.

Rewind back a few hours, and he found himself battling a giant cetus—a sea monster—in the middle of the Ionian Sea. Rewind a few more hours, and he was in freaking Tartarus. As you can very much tell, his life sucked.

The cetus in question was thirty feet long and particularly aggressive. Frank blasted exploding arrows at it from the mast; Piper shot baked goods and very impressive profanity; and Leo helped by yelling out random boat elements that were in the process of being annihilated.

Percy was supposed to be resting. He had even gotten cozy in pyjama pants and was sleeping _in an actual bed. _But all the noise from upstairs wouldn't let him. Someone screamed loudly—Piper—and it took all his energy to stop himself from bounding up the staircase and letting loose some extreme demigod-fu.

_Sleep!_ he yelled at himself.

_No! _he replied. _My friends need me!_

_No, they don't! This is the third sea monster that attacked us since your escape from Tartarus. And where are those monsters now, hmm? In Tartarus._

Percy turned over on his side, squeezing his eyes shut. There was a loud explosion. The cetus roared, and the ship rocked violently.

_I hate my life,_ Percy thought as he kicked back his bed sheets. He pulled a T-shirt over his bare chest and crossed into the hallway, bounding up the stairway two steps at a time until he reached the upper deck. The cetus caught sight of him and screeched, and Percy was surprised his ears didn't explode. The boat lurched to a side.

"Do something!" Leo yelled, just as Piper loaded the ballistae and shot another blazing fireball the size of a very flammable pineapple. It hit its snout, and another screech pierced the (mostly) silent summer day.

Percy's eyes flitted over to the mast, noticing how it was just as high as the cetus's head. He raced over to the ladder and began to climb.

"Stupid monsters," Frank was grumbling as he arrived. He had an arrow between his teeth Mexican-dancer style and was taking careful aim with another. The first projectile took flight, hitting the cetus just below the eye. The second arrow was loaded and shot only seconds afterward. Watching him shoot with such precision reminded Percy of a Chinese version of Robin Hood—without the silly green leaf hat. "Stupid monsters that keep attacking us. Oh hey, Percy."

"Frank," he replied, gauging the distance between him and the monster. About twenty feet. If he tried to jump he would most certainly miss and die.

Eh. He'd been through worse.

He backed up a few steps to gain momentum, then ran and threw himself forward. For a moment he imagined how he must have looked to the casual observer—a less-handsome Superman without the cape and godly sun powers, leaping toward his inevitable doom. The water from the sea below churned and vaulted upwards, catching him midair and pushing him forward. Percy landed horizontally on the cetus's face, causing another shriek that disoriented him. He fell, tumbling into the water.

Percy was enveloped in seawater from head to toe, and instantly felt his energy restored. Underwater, he pulled out his pen and it returned to its true form. In the dark seawaters, Riptide cast a gentle pulsing light over the sea creature and the hull of the _Argo II. _His movements slightly sluggish due to the force of the water, Percy plunged the blade right into the cetus's fin like an evil Russian lady nurse's needle.

Suddenly he was glad he was underwater, because the final shriek certainly sounded painful. The sea monster slowly sank beneath the surface, deciding it was a better idea to leave the _Argo II _alone than risk more pointy things getting stabbed underneath its skin.

The water vaulted Percy upwards and into the air, and he landed back on the ship's deck. He scampered back over to the railing, watching the silhouette of the cetus sink deeper and deeper into the sea.

"Great," Piper muttered, clearly exhausted. That morning her hair had been put back in a nice and tidy bun, but now her choppy brown hair hung loose around her shoulders, soaked in seawater. Her shoulder bore a nasty bruise and her left arm seemed limp, but she was already chewing on some ambrosia to deal with it. Her jeans were ripped (Percy wasn't sure if that was intentional or not—clearly it was a fashion for girls nowadays), and Winnie the Pooh characters danced on her T-shirt. "It's gone."

Frank climbed down the mast's ladder, wearing his bow and remaining arrows as a backpack. The big guy was wearing a too-small gray T-shirt with trousers that had a pants leg shorter than the other. That was certainly not intentional. "Percy, I thought you were on monster-duty an hour ago," he said.

Percy nodded, the sudden weight of exhaustion falling on his shoulders. "Just thought you guys would need some help," he replied honestly. His hand trailed to his pocket, where Riptide was already back in his pocket.

"But you must be so tired," Piper said, and the truth was that she was right. But Percy couldn't sleep.

"So?" he told her, trying to sound nonchalant. It didn't work.

"Is the monster thing gone?" Leo asked, completely fixed on his Archimedes sphere. That thing was so complicated-looking Percy had concluded that Leo had entered a delusional state while he and Annabeth were away, deciding that round rubix-cubes were special futuristic technologies that could do anything. Then on the first cetus attack after Tartarus Leo had twisted his fingers over the sphere's glassy bronze surface, and suddenly the _Argo II_ was speeding three hundred miles an hour over the crystal blue surface of the water while the ballistae shot rapid-fire celestial bronze ammunition into the air and the _Legend of Zelda_ theme song blared over the intercom.

(ADHD was amazing.)

"Yeah," Piper told him, eyes warily hovering over the sphere. Obviously Percy wasn't the only one to notice Leo never seemed to go anywhere without it.

Frank turned out to the ocean, frowning. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at something in the distance.

Piper sighed. "I'll get the ballistae ready," she offered unenthusiastically.

Percy shook his head. "That's just land," he said.

Leo clapped his hands together once. "Great!" he exclaimed. "Where there's land, there's a harbour. We can dock there for an hour or so while Festus fixes the ship, decide on a plan, and get ice cream."

"That… actually doesn't sound like a bad idea," Piper said. "I'll go wake the others."

**-o-O-o-**

Leo was disappointed. There was no ice cream.

Annabeth, Hazel, and Jason were present. All three of them were still half asleep, yawning every thirty seconds so accurately Percy wondered if they were timing themselves. Piper, Frank and Leo seemed more alert, but not by much. Percy guessed he didn't fare any better.

Leo had dimmed the lights and was projecting a screen onto a wall opposite to the one showing live feed of Camp Half-Blood. A map of Greece was shown.

"And so, my fellow demigods, this is where we are," Leo started, and as he spoke a blinking red dot appeared on the map way on the west coat of Greece. "As you can see, we are docked on an island somewhere named Garbansos, which in Spanish is a kind of pea."

"Gaios, Leo," Hazel corrected halfheartedly. She was slumped forward on the table, her lunch pushed off to one side so that she could rest her head on her folded arms. Her frizzy brown hair was set up in a lazy ponytail with loose strands falling down next to her face, and her eyes were half-closed. Percy bet that if nobody made any more pronunciation mistakes for the next ten minutes she would be asleep by the end of the meeting.

"Sure. Anyway, we're in _Gaios."_ Leo made sure to pronounce it properly, though Hazel couldn't seem to care less. "And here is Athens, our final destination." A black dot appeared over a large city, on the opposite end of Greece. "We basically have three options to get there. There's up, headed northward and performing a large semi-circle over the country." A green dotted line appeared on this path.

"Sort of like what we did in Rome," offered Piper.

"Yeah. Then there's across Greece, in a straight line toward the capital." This also appeared in green. "But both of these courses are impractical. The northern one because it would take us more than a week to arrive to Athens, not including those side-missions we always seem to have."

"And what about the one that goes across?" Annabeth asked, completely engrossed on the blinking red dot on the screen. Percy could tell she wasn't completely awake yet.

"Well, the one across for obvious reasons. The mountains," Leo explained, and the range was suddenly highlighted in red.

Everyone seemed to nod, remembering some past incident. Percy figured it had been while he and Annabeth were away.

Jason seemed to remember first. "_Numina_," he said, as if it answered everything logical in the world.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" he asked.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. _"Ourae," _she translated in Greek. "They're mountain gods."

"For some reason I feel like all the gods are either pitted against us or too stubborn to help," Frank commented, slouched forward on the table, his head resting on the heel of his hand. For some reason he was having waffles for lunch. "That or too stubborn to speak in anything but cryptograms and riddles."

"What's the last one, Leo?" Piper asked.

"Under," he said, and the final dotted line appeared in black to distinguish it from the others. "We sail by water instead of air, and theoretically if we move in super-stealth mode we should get to Athens in three or four days. Supposedly."

"Sounds good," Percy admitted. "I like the sea part. But is there absolutely no other possible way to get to Athens?"

Leo tapped his chin in thought, considering it. "Hmm… We _could_ go south, then cross upwards once we pass the mountains, then south again, or we could backtrack and completely avert Greece in general and finally approach Athens from the west… or go in squiggly lines across the map. Gaea _definitely_ won't see that coming." All three of these options showed up in green dotted lines on their improvised screen, rendering their map unreadable.

"Let's just stick to Leo's idea," Jason told Percy. "It's easy, plus—"

He was interrupted by something loud crashing from outside. There were screams, and the sound of things blowing up could be heard.

"Monsters," Annabeth concluded immediately, already standing and heading for the door.

"No way," Leo said. "Festus would have caught them." He relented, backing up a few steps. "But… it doesn't hurt to check."

The demigods raced upstairs.

**-o-O-o-**

Percy was disappointed to find he was surprised when he learned that the racket had nothing to do with them.

Some idiot driver shouted from the top of his lungs, blasting dubstep music so loud Percy could hear it all the way from the ship. He laughed, performing a one-eighty in the middle of the street and nearly running over two pedestrians.

As much as Percy hated bullies, this wouldn't have been his problem… except he was driving a chariot made of solid gold.

"Your horse would love this," Leo told Hazel.

"I think he'd be more jealous that the chariot is being driven by winged horses," Jason offered.

"Nah," said Hazel. "Their wings are too small. They'd never be able to carry themselves, much less themselves and a golden chariot. Arion would be more jealous of their… wild temper? I don't know."

Piper chose to ask something a little more helpful. "What is he doing?" she asked.

"Being stupid," Percy said. The guy in the chariot couldn't have been more than five years older than him, and for some reason reminded him of someone he had met before. The guy whooped loudly, and his chariot forced someone to jump out of the way and into the disgusting sea.

But that wasn't what made Percy do a double take. There, on the side of the chariot, was the obvious impression of a merman.

"Dad…" he muttered under his breath. The man and the chariot disappeared around a street corner. A little more loudly, Percy announced, "That's my dad's chariot."

Frank scratched his head like he had the time Leo tried explaining to the crew why the answer to life, the universe and everything was 42. "Huh?" he asked.

"I _know_ that chariot," he persisted. "It's my dad's. I saw it! The last time I visited him. Why does _he_ have it?"

Annabeth laid a caring hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure it's your dad's?" she asked. "I mean, there are tons of chariots with mer-people on them…"

_"Gold_ chariots?" Leo asked.

"I think I should go talk to him anyway," Percy decided. "Just to make sure he doesn't kill anyone."

"But, uh, Percy?" Piper started gently. "I hate to be rude, but we're on a deadline. We can't stop for every single little thing we stumble across."

Percy sighed, running a hand through his tangled black hair. "You're right, Piper." He gazed back at the spot he had last seen the chariot. "Let's go."

"Wait." Annabeth hesitated, and then added, "If you're certain that's your dad's chariot, then… then I think _we_ should go at least figure out why he's got it. But we should bring someone else." She glanced over at Hazel. "That guy's chariot is gold. You could help us. Plus, you have the… Mist." She hesitated before saying the word, as if she was still unused to saying it in a sentence like that. Hazel shrugged, still yawning a bit.

"Sure," she said. "Let's go teach that guy some manners."

* * *

**I was actually planning on ending this chapter at the second line break, but I figured it would have more of an impact on readers if I didn't.**

**Tell me what you think! Feedback is very much appreciated! (Which means I'm subtly trying to nudge you into reviewing!)**


	2. II PERCY

**II PERCY**

THEY FOUND HIM JUST a few kilometres away from the harbour.

The street was unnaturally deserted, as if all the tourists had decided to steer clear of it for some reason. There were two walls on either side of them, about two car lengths apart. Poseidon's golden chariot rested against one of the buildings. Up close, Percy could distinguish its different features—on either side there was a merman (his father?) carved in gold. Miniature shells decorated the front and back of the chariot. It was obviously meant for races as there were no seats, but was also built to be more comfortable as the base was wider to allow more passengers. Attached to its front were the two winged-but-unable-to-fly horses whining and pawing at the ground angrily. One was pure white, the other more or less gray.

_Death!_ one shouted.

_Yeah! _the other cheered. _And cheeseburgers!_

The driver was checking out the chariot as if it were brand new, perhaps thinking, _This thing is mine? I am so awesome._ His sandy blond hair swept over to one side casually, and his grin reminded Percy of one he had seen before. He just wasn't able to place where. The man was well built, and the way he handled his javelin was uncanny. But his oddest attribute was his left shoulder—it was made of pure imperial gold.

"Hey, Percy!" the man exclaimed when he saw them, walking in their direction. He suddenly froze. "You are Percy, right? Gods, there are so many of them."

Percy frowned, thinking. "There are?" he asked.

The man swatted at the air, as if waving the thought away. "Bah. One of my daughters married the son of Perseus. He was horrible at the family reunions."

Hazel nodded. "That's nice," she said. "Who are you, exactly?"

He grinned. "What, can't you tell?" When none of the demigods replied, he told them, "Okay, I'll give you a little hint." He paused, making the demigods catch their breath. "Are you sure you want to know?" he asked them instead.

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth told him. "We came here for a reason, and playing Rumpelstiltskin isn't it."

"Are you sure?" he asked her, eyebrows raised mockingly. "I'll give you the real hint. My daddy is Tantalus."

The name struck Percy like an extremely pointy bat to the face (which he could tell you, unfortunately, as he knew the experience). He remembered the ex-activities director of Camp Half-Blood, and judging by the hard expression on Annabeth's face she did too. He suddenly knew why this guy looked familiar.

"You're Pelops," Annabeth concluded. "Son of Tantalus."

"And technically I'm also the great-grandfather of Heracles and Theseus, and the grandson of Zeus," he offered nonchalantly, failing to look modest on purpose.

Hazel looked down and shook her head in disapproval. "Everybody's related to everyone _somehow_ in mythology," she said.

Annabeth continued. "Your father was a king. He invited the Olympians over for dinner one day, and… you were the main course." She said that hesitantly, as if she didn't want to hurt this guy's feelings.

But he couldn't care less. "Yeah. Only Demeter actually fell for it, though," he offered. "That witch... with a B instead of a W."

"And your shoulder," Hazel continued. "That's what she… um, ate?"

Pelops nodded. "Yep. When the fates ordered Zeus to bring me back to life—sometimes I believe those guys have more power than the gods themselves—Hephaestus took the liberty of making me a new shoulder. But the one he made was ivory. This one's shinier." He grinned, showing off his white teeth.

"Okay. Sure. But why do you have my father's chariot?" Percy demanded.

Pelops frowned. "Oh, so _you're_ the son of Poseidon. I thought that was Jason for some reason.

"Anyway, Thanatos was chained, I got a get-out-of-jail-free card, and—BAM! I find this bad boy, just waiting for me here! It's awesome, isn't it? Look, the horses even remember me." He leaned back and patted the first one on the snout, which reached out and tried to chomp his fingers off.

Percy glanced at Annabeth for an explanation. "After he was brought back to life, Poseidon made him his apprentice, sort of," she explained. "He taught him how to use a chariot. Then, um, there was this race to win the hand of his wife, and he asked your dad for help. So Poesidon sent Pelops a golden chariot with two untamed horses. But Pelops thought it wouldn't be enough, so he got a son of Hermes who worked for his opponent in the race to rig the other guy's chariot so that it would fail. Both his opponent and the son of Hermes died."

"That's actually not true," Pelops said. "I killed the Hermes guy later on. He was asking for it, really, talking so rudely and standing so close to that cliff."

Percy nodded. "And now you have my father's chariot," he said.

Pelops nodded. "And two of his horses," he added, leaning against his javelin casually.

"I think I'm going to need it all back."

Pelops grinned, straightening up again. "Are you going to threaten me? Gods, fighting you guys would be so cool. You're basically legendaries. And Gaea—"

He froze.

Hazel narrowed her eyes. "What about Gaea?" she demanded.

Pelops grinned, returning to his old idiotic self. "Gaea? Isn't she like the earth goddess or something?"

"You said her name," Annabeth warned.

"Yes I did."

"She's the one who sent you here," Percy concluded. "She gave you the chariot."

Pelops shrugged, forgetting his act as the clueless. "Yeah, and I'm supposed to kill you guys or whatever. But you're so easy to talk to! I mean, I can already tell that we're friends."

The horses snarled.

"But why are you helping her?" Hazel asked. "The gods helped you after your father… um, cannibalized."

Pelops snorted. "Yeah. Sure. They most certainly did _not_ throw me off Mount Olympus like freaking Hephaestus when my father stole some of their godly food. And they most certainly _did_ help me when my entire family was cursed by that stupid son of Hermes!"

He shrugged, returning to his calm endeavour.

"Plus, Gaea has better negotiation skills. Listen to this: I kill at least one of you guys and advertise her rising until the Feast of Spes, and I get to keep the chariot! What a deal!" He paused. "Here, take this." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a card, holding it out to them. Percy cautiously took a step forward and took it.

_Feast of Spes! _it screamed. _The rising of our favourite earth goddess! High-quality entertainment, delicious food, and gory death guaranteed! [Some conditions apply; go to Athens for details.]_

"We need to get that chariot back fast, Percy," Annabeth hissed quietly.

"What? Are you leaving?" Pelops asked, thinking that that was what she told him. "Are you serious? Can I kill one of you first, though? I really like this chariot, and the horses are _great_ company."

_Cheeseburgers!_ one of them yelled.

Hazel shook her head. "I don't think so," she said.

"Aw, please! Just one! We're friends, right?"

None of the demigods agreed.

Pelops sighed. "Ugh. You guys are so stubborn." He swung his javelin around to his front professionally. "Ah well. I guess I _am_ going to have a workout today." He turned to one of the horses. "Remind me that I owe you five drachmas."

Then he charged.

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**And CUT! That's a WRAP, PEOPLE!**

**Hope you liked that: just reminding you all I worked SO EXTREMELY HARD on this to make it sound like Rick's style. Did it work?**

**PS: This is where you leave the review, and go to the next chapter. (The review box is just below, if you're wondering.)**

**(::)**


	3. III PERCY

**III PERCY**

THE HORSES SUDDENLY SNAPPED right off of the chariot, kicking and screaming. Hazel barely had time to gasp before she was run into, knocked back seven feet, and sent skidding. Before the horses could trample her, she swung her _spatha_ in a wide arch above her head, slapping the first one on the side of the neck. Unfortunately for her, she had grabbed her weapon the wrong way and hit her animal enemy with the blunt end, the pointy bit pointed down at herself. The horse only seemed dazed, and the second one was advancing quickly.

"Annabeth!" Percy shouted, Riptide already in hand. "Help her!"

Annabeth hesitated, then pulled out a dagger she had taken from the _Argo II's_ weaponry and ran over.

Percy had just turned to face Pelops when a javelin was swung at his head. He swerved out of the way and thrust the flat of his blade at his stomach, but the javelin caught it, and Pelops only staggered back a few steps.

He wildly swung his weapon at Percy's neck, but Riptide met it in the air and threw it off to the side. It should have spun out of his grip, but Pelops was stronger than he appeared. He thrust the end of his javelin into Percy's gut, which wouldn't have been a problem if Percy had been wearing armour. But the unfortunate truth was that he wasn't. It was just impractical. Armour was hot and heavy and although it often saved lives from pointy things, Percy found the protective covering really bothersome. Percy rolled out of the way and quickly skidded back to his feet.

Percy swung his blade at Pelops's shoulder, just to remember it was artificial. Riptide bounced off with a loud CLANG, giving Pelops the small satisfaction of watching Percy suffer the back shock.

A few meters to his left, Annabeth was busy hacking away one of the crazy horses, which kept inserting profanity wherever it could. Percy briefly wondered if it was related to Arion somehow.

Hazel wasn't going that well either. One of the horses had managed to stomp down on her head somehow, leaving behind a large horseshoe print that, okay, sort of looked comical. Her horse whined furiously, a gash on its side bleeding. Its useless white wings batted at the air as if hoping that miraculously it would gain the ability of flight.

Hazel caught Percy looking at her, and her eyes widened in horror. "Percy, look—!"

The end of a javelin came down on his head, rattling his skull and disorienting his vision. Percy stumbled, blinking several times, and then slashed Riptide at Pelops. He manoeuvred out of the way, and while Percy was still partially blind he swung his weapon like a baseball bat at his chest.

Percy barely managed to stay on his feet. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, he charged at Pelops, slashing as viciously as he could. He remembered how easily his half-brother had defeated him on their way to Rome. Percy wasn't making the same mistake with some ex-apprentice of his father's.

Just the thought of his half-brother creep fuelled Percy's furious motivation to completely annihilate this guy.

Pelops seemed to notice Percy's determination and scowled."I am a king!" he bellowed, as if shouting would make Percy feel more intimidated. "I was dead, but came back! Twice! My entire bloodline suffered a curse because of a stupid half-blood! My wife hanged herself, just after I was forced to banish her and two of my sons for murdering their brother! I will kill you, Percy Jacks—!"

Then the golden chariot smashed into him.

Pelops flew sideways several feet, too surprised to scream. The chariot landed on him, and only his twitching legs and arms were left visible. Percy turned to his friends.

Hazel panted, one hand resting on her knee, the other extended in front of her. By her feet, the golden remains of one of the wild horses lay scattered on the ground, before the gentle summer breeze swept them away. And apparently they _could_ fly, because the second one was already three streets away, screaming something about moving to McDonalds.

"You guys okay?" Percy asked them.

"Fine," Annabeth replied, and spat a mixture of horse blood, monster dust, and phlegm onto the street. (Percy had no idea how those three got together in her mouth.) "Well, we've got the chariot. Now what?"

**-o-O-o-**

Five minutes later Hazel was rolling the cart along the streets of Gaios, down toward the harbour. No one paid them any attention.

"So the plan is to simply dunk it in the sea," Annabeth summarized.

"Yes," Percy replied as they passed by a Greek policeman on his way to help all the mortals Pelops had hurt. "Dad will get it."

_If he isn't suffering from multiple personality disorders like the rest of the gods, _he added in his mind.

They reached the docks. Swerving around Greek fishermen and tourists, they arrived at the edge of the water. With a final push with her powers, Hazel sent the chariot splashing into the Ionian Sea.

"Nep… Poseidon won't be upset that I killed one of his horses, though," Hazel double-checked, rubbing her horseshoe print off her forehead. "Will he?"

Percy shook his head. "Probably not," he decided.

The three demigods stood at the edge of the water, staring down at their own grim-faced reflections for a moment. Percy realized he was in desperate need of a shower.

"Come on," he told the girls. "We have a long journey ahead of us if we want to get to Athens for the Feast of Spes."

* * *

**So, Percy's three-chapter POV is officially finished. Will his POV appear again in this story? Will he as a character ever appear again in this story? Will he ever be noticed again by anyone in this story? No one knows. (Except me. *cackles evilly, but begins to choke*)**

**Yeah, it turns out I have asthma.**

**(::) (::) (::) **

**(And above I present to you cookies, in case you need something to be bribed with in order to review.)**


	4. IV LEO

**Happy belated Remembrance day! *fireworks explode in the background***

**And my birthday is coming up! Yay! (Which means now is about the time of my one-year anniversary on FanFiction, because I published my first story on this website EVER around this time 360 days ago, _Mount Olympus Dance Party_. This makes me so proud.)**

* * *

**IV LEO**

LEO WISHED HE HAD STAYED ON OGYGIA. That way he wouldn't have to deal with all his stupid demigod problems.

That dang astrolabe… how long had it been since he got it? A few days. Yes. And he still had no way of getting it to work. It felt like the Athena Parthenos all over again.

He had the crystal. He had the machine. Somehow, they merged together to do something awesome, like shoot laser beams or play Miley Cyrus until your enemies went mad. (Both during and after Hannah Montana.)

But the most frustrating part was that every time he looked at the astrolabe—and really, the crystal—a name appeared in his head.

_Calypso._

He sighed, running a hand through his tangled curly hair.

_Just forget about it, Leo._

But he couldn't.

He moved the astrolabe to his night table and fell backwards on his bed, staring up at his white textured ceiling. He was supposed to be sleeping. He couldn't. Nothing larger than seven feet had attacked them since Gaios, which meant the boat wasn't constantly lurching to one side or another, threatening to drop him onto the roof. These were good conditions to go to sleep in, he supposed. But thoughts kept running around rampantly in his head, screaming for attention like Directioners at a concert; you couldn't focus on the band because of all the annoying fan-girls around you.

Finally, all his thoughts and feelings about the astrolabe and their course towards Athens and Calypso melted into one and he fell asleep.

**-o-O-o-**

Leo stood on the helm on the _Argo II._ The vast Ionian Sea lay clear and calm before him, the boat crashing into the crystal blue waves as tiny butter knives. Up ahead, the sky went on endlessly in every direction with not a cloud in sight. He swore a school of dolphins chattering and jumping out of the water all cliché-like would not have looked out of place. (Hmm… would Frank do that if he asked nicely enough?) In his hands he held an Xbox game controller, which he recognized as one of the ship's regulators.

Beside him stood a woman. For a terrifying moment Leo thought it was Hera (his second least favourite goddess, after Gaea), but it wasn't. Her hair was coffee and lustrous, curving around one of her shoulders in a braid. In one hand she held a long pole used on farms to prod along sheep and goats, and in the other a basket of fruit. She wore a simple white gown and sandals Leo had only ever seen as pictures in textbooks of Ancient Rome. But it was her eyes… her eyes were a soft and warm copper that reminded Leo of the days he used to spend with his mother curled up by the fireplace, making up stories aloud in Spanish. Leo was used to having nightmares, but this woman… he somehow knew she was just trying to help him. A good goddess.

"Here," she said, holding something out to him. "Have a grape."

"Okay…" Leo said hesitantly, taking it. A few moments passed in silence.

"Did you figure it out?"

"Figure what out?" Leo asked, nibbling on his fruit delicately. The ship hit a bump and rocked slightly, but it was nothing he should have been worried about.

"The astrolabe. It is essential for your quest," the goddess replied.

Suddenly Leo was irritated. "Oh, really?" he said sardonically, stuffing the rest of his grape in his mouth and munching on it angrily. "Well, of _course_ we're going to need the all-powerful ancient Greek-ian device that I just can't happen to figure out."

The goddess smiled wistfully, delicately placing a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Do not worry yourself. As you near the island, allow my goat to lead your way."

_Island?_

_Goat?_

She might as well tell him to follow the yellow brick road and then paint it green.

The goddess gave him another grape. "Troubles lie ahead," she told him casually, as if they were talking about something as simple as homework. "For your crew, and for your companions at camp. Especially for your friends travelling west."

"Wha—what?" Leo stammered, accidentally dropping the grape. "Reyna, Nico and Coach Hedge are in danger? Or will be?"

"Have faith in them," the goddess warned him, picking an apple from her basket and turning it over. Her fingernails pinched through the skin, leaving tiny crescent marks indented on the fruit. "They are not helpless. Just concentrate on _your_ task. You will need the astrolabe for the rules still apply to the final two, and after the fourth no other help will be available for you."

Then she turned and walked away. For the first time Leo noticed a goat that had been resting by her feet. It looked up at him and brayed.

"So," Leo said. "You're the goat."

The goat sneezed.

**-o-O-o-**

Leo chose to tell Piper and Jason about his dream.

"So you actually didn't have a nightmare?" Piper asked him incredulously, as if the simple fact were crazy enough.

"Well, the goat was really hideous," offered Leo.

"Doesn't matter. What did she tell you?" Jason asked.

Leo looked out at the sea rolling by them. "She said something about an island nearby," he said. "A goat would lead to something that would help me figure out the astrolabe, which we need. She also mentioned difficulties for Reyna, Nico and Hedge."

Piper tried to play it easy. "Of course they'll have difficulties, they're two powerful demigods and a satyr. Monsters will attack them for sure at least a couple times." But she didn't look convinced.

"Well, we're passing by an island in a couple of minutes," Jason offered unsurely, as if the place could have grown legs and wandered off somewhere else in the last half hour. "That might be the one she's talking about." He frowned, thinking. "What was it called? It started with an I."

"Ithaca," Piper helped.

Leo blinked. "Ithaca?" he asked. "Like, the place where Odysseus lived?"

"Yeah, I think so," said Jason, snapping his fingers.

"Isn't Odysseus that guy who created the astrolabe?" Piper added enthusiastically, catching on.

"Yes! He was! Maybe he left some sort of clues on his island." Leo turned to the Ionian Sea, resting his hands on the railing and gazing outward.

Piper nodded vigorously. "Yeah," she said. "We definitely need to stop there then."

Jason agreed. "I'll go tell the others," he said, and darted off.

Leo sighed contentedly. Finally, things were going his way.

* * *

**Leo is the most amazing character ever. I was even tempted to make this story all about him, with his own forever first-person POV. (Not really. But if I could I totally would have.)**

**(::) (::) (::)**

**These cookies are for the Leo fans, like me.**


	5. V LEO

**Thank you for all the reviews! You are amazing.**

**And now... for a long chapter.**

* * *

**V LEO**

THE GOAT STARED UP AT THEM AND SNORTED.

"I just have one question," Piper said as she stared at it. "Why would a goddess have a _goat_ as a sacred animal? I mean, if you wanted something disgusting you might as well choose a pig… or one of my half-siblings…"

Jason scratched his head. "Maybe this goddess is just really into ordinary livestock," he suggested.

The goat brayed and turned, clippity-clopping down the paved road. None of the townsfolk seemed to find it out of place.

"So do we just follow it?" Leo asked.

"I think so," Piper replied. The three demigods scampered after their goat leader, following it through the winding paths of Ithaca.

Either the goat had a very good reason for doubling back twice, pausing at a crossway for five minutes, and stopping to chew on paper coffee cups every time they passed by a coffee shop, or it had no idea where it was going.

At the third Starbucks the demigods decided to get some donuts. Sitting on a bench outside, staring at the goat viciously shred apart a discarded coffee cup, Piper decided to voice the thought they were all thinking: "Maybe we have the wrong goat. Or maybe the lady in Leo's dream was wrong herself."

Leo shrugged, sipping from his lemonade beverage. "It's possible," he decided, his eyes trailing over to a group of girls standing across the street, giggling and crushing over Jason. Piper seemed to notice them and slipped her hand into her boyfriend's. This did nothing to discourage them.

"Goat's on the move," Jason informed. True enough, the animal had decided his coffee cup was dead enough already and was moving away. Leo groaned and got back to his feet, stretching over-dramatically.

"And the chase continues," he said as they tailed their leader.

The goat rounded a corner and walked up to an old stone building. Graffiti written in Greek decorated its walls, and the windows were boarded up with decaying wood and rusty nails. A small stairway led to the wooden front door, which was attached only by one hinge. Vines crawled over the building, and a rickety gray gate surrounded the perimeter. A crumbling white sign displayed something in Greek, and underneath it in English read, _O y eus M se m._ The goat squeezed under a gaping hole in the fence and leaned against the building wall, snuggling against it like it wanted to cuddle.

Piper squinted. "What does the sign say?" she asked.

Jason walked up to it and scraped off a bit of moss with the back of his hand. "Odysseus Museum," he read.

"Obviously," Leo said. "But then why does it look like the town got an upgrade and bullied this building out?"

Piper shrugged, finishing her bagel. "I guess it doesn't really matter as long as we get our answers," she said. The three demigods glanced up at the imposing front steps leading of the crumbling white building.

"Are you sure we have to go in there?" Jason asked uneasily.

"Because obviously we can fight gods, giants and monsters, and be wimpy about entering a failing building," Leo said. "Come on, guys, this place has just challenged our honour!" He purposefully strode over to the gate door, which fell off its hinges when he pushed forward on it. He glanced back at his friends hesitantly, who shrugged unhelpfully. The demigods climbed the steep stairway to the front door.

"Hello?" Leo called, poking his head inside. "Anyone home?"

"Just go in," Piper said, trying to elbow her way past him. This caused the front door to snap right off its sole hinge and drop Piper forward, crashing into Leo, who tumbled embarrassingly to the floor. Jason, surprised, tripped over Piper's legs and fell on top of them.

_"Nice,"_ someone commented.

The demigods quickly scrambled to their feet. There stood a girl their age in a simple white apron, a box full of antiques tucked under her arm, a cleaning rag held in the other. She peered over them with raised eyebrows, like, _Seriously?_

"Oh," said Jason. "Hey."

"Let me guess," she said. She spoke with an accent. "Americans?"

Leo tried for an award-winning grin. "You got it!" he said.

The girl rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Wait!" Piper called, and the three of them scrambled after her. She didn't turn or slow down. "Do you know why this place is so…?"

"Run-down?" the girl completed, walking into a new room. It was completely empty. "Is that the word you'd use?"

Leo shrugged. "Possibly," he admitted.

Jason elbowed him. "What happened?" he asked politely.

"The other museum happened," she explained, passing her cleaning rag over a cracked window. "They were so big and new, and we slowly ran out of business. _The House of Odysseus and Other Greek Heroes, _it's called. After a few months we had to close. They're tearing this place down in a week and building a few houses on the property." She stopped and turned to face them. "I'd recommend you leave now. Maybe you can go to the _other_ museum." She seemed really upset. This place must have meant a lot to her.

"But the goat led us _here,"_ Piper said.

The girl frowned as if trying to figure the crazy Americans out, but decided that it was past her human capabilities and left. "Wait!" Leo called. "Did Odysseus live here three millennia ago or something?" he asked.

The girl turned and laughed bitterly. "Odysseus? Odysseus and all those other Greek myths make for good tourist traps, but the 'hero' never existed." She shook her head at them. "Greek mythology… is just mythology." She glared at the trio coldly for a moment, and then headed for a staircase leading to an upper level.

Leo whistled. "Okay. Then obviously my entire life is just a figment of someone's imagination." He turned to his friends. "So our answers are somewhere inside this decaying old building that used to be a museum? Sounds simple enough."

_Ba-ah-ah._

The demigods turned to find the goat sitting at the room's doorway, waiting for them patiently. Leo had to resist the urge to pat it on the head.

"How did it get inside?" Jason asked.

"The door fell off, remember?" Piper reminded him.

"Plus it's a goddess's pet," Leo added. "Maybe its got superpowers."

The goat sneezed and walked out the doorway.

It led the demigods to the very back of the building, where the eradication of the museum wasn't as strong. A few paintings still hung on the walls, and a couple of artefacts remained on display.

The goat stopped abruptly, causing Piper to stop suddenly as well. Leo ran into her, and Jason tripped over them both.

"Again?" he grumbled, and the demigods untangled themselves and got to their feet. They were at the feet of a relatively short statue of a man wearing a simple white tunic. He gazed up at the sky, as if (very dramatically) praying for the gods' wisdom and knowledge to bestow upon him. In one hand he held a globe of what the Greeks thought the earth looked like three millennia ago, in the other an astrolabe.

"Leo?" Jason started. "Isn't that—?"

"Yeah," he replied, pulling his astrolabe and the crystal from his tool belt. He compared the two. They were almost identical.

The goat bleated.

"Yeah, yeah, good boy," said Leo distractedly. He poked the statue's astrolabe, wondering if somehow it had special properties. Behind him, Jason was scowling at the goat that was trying to eat his pants leg, and Piper was trying not to laugh.

His eyes skimmed down to the bottom of the statue, to the base. He frowned, thinking there was something wrong about its dimensions. It wouldn't have to be so big, unless the marble was somehow lighter, or…

He pressed his palm to the base. There was a mechanical gear system, and behind it, an empty space. It was a door.

Leo grinned. He was so good.

The gears spun under his command. They were millennia old, and it took lots of concentration to keep them from failing completely. A loud _click!_ was audible, and both the other demigods and the goat froze.

One wall of the base swung open.

Leo turned to his friends. "Tell me I'm not amazing," he said. He proceeded to stick his hand inside.

"Leo—!" Piper tried to shout a warning, but his fingers had already closed around whatever was inside. He tugged it out.

She seemed relieved. "Leo, don't do that. There could have been a trap that cut your hand off or something."

He waved the thought away. "Nah. That trap was too old to work. It was there, though, so half points for trying." He took his first good look at what he held in his hand. "Hmm. A pointy-thingy," he noticed. "And a piece of paper."

Jason frowned in thought. "But wouldn't parchment become so brittle in there after so many millennia?" he asked.

Leo thought about it. "You're right." He spread a hand over the paper, thinking. Then it hit him. "Piper, give me your sword," he instructed.

"Why?" she asked, but did so anyway. Leo took a glance at the Celestial Bronze and the parchment and discovered its secret.

"It's encrusted," he explained. "That's how it survived so long."

"But… wasn't Odysseus normal?" Piper wondered. "Like, not a demigod? How would he know of Celestial Bronze?"

"He was a legacy," Jason explained. "His mom was the granddaughter of Hermes, I think." He shrugged. "Either way, everyone's related to everybody _somehow_ in mythology."

Leo tucked the parchment and the smaller device away in his tool belt. "You aren't going to read it?" Piper asked him.

He shook his head. "Later. When we're at the ship, where there's a less likely chance of monster assault."

"Actually," Jason started, "there have been a relatively larger number of attacks than usual ever since the smokescreen and the monster-attack warner-thingamajig was destroyed by that dragon creature."

"Okay," Leo amended, "where there's _supposed_ to be less attacks. Come on." They headed back to the entrance, the goat tailing behind them, bleating and braying.

The girl was waiting for them. "Hope you have a wonderful day," she told them sarcastically. "I would open the door for you, but… oh, look. It's on the floor. Thank you for that."

Piper tried to smile for her. "Don't worry," she told the girl. "Things will get better."

She rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. It sounded like, _"Ilithios." _Leo was vaguely aware it meant 'idiot' in Greek.

The goat jumped down the short stairway to the lawn, where it began nibbling delicately at the top of the grass. The demigods waved goodbye to it (okay, Leo waved goodbye and Piper rolled her eyes at him _and_ the goat), and they began to walk back to the harbour.

On the way, Leo noticed the girls from Starbucks again, fan-girling over Jason. He poked Piper on the arm. "Don't look now, but you've got competition," he told her. She turned and gave him a _seriously? _look.

"Really?" she asked him.

"Dudes, they're approaching," he continued anyway. The four girls kept trying to push each other forward, as if they wanted to see their friends suffer but not them themselves. Eventually they got over the giggles and managed to make it over.

"Hey," the first one said, winking, and her friends burst into laughter. "'Sup?"

Piper smiled kindly. "We're doing just fine. You?"

"Good," one of the other girls said. "Americans?"

They nodded, and the girls burst out laughing.

"That's crazy we're Americans too," one of them said. She grabbed Jason's arm. "What a coincidence."

He jerked away really fast. "That's wonderful," he said. "Come on, guys. Let's go."

"We can come too!" one of the girls offered brightly, and they started tailing the demigods.

Piper frowned. "I don't think that's such a good idea," she said.

One of the girls slipped her arm through Leo's. "We can totally hang out!" she cried. "It would be _so_ much fun. And when we leave we can email to stay in touch, because cell phones are _way_ too mainstream."

"Like trends," said her friend. "You've gotta ignore them and be true"—she took a moment to think about it—"…to yourself."

The harbour was approaching_. _They needed to lose these guys.

Jason was quick. "Yeah. So why don't we trade email addresses and go our own ways?"

One of the girls smiled soothingly. "Later," she told him, placing a hand on his arm. He didn't move away. Piper narrowed her eyes.

"How about some tea?" one of the girls offered. "We can have some tea. I know the _best_ place in town."

"Yeah," said Leo, looking at his friends to see if they were cool with it. "Tea sounds great, actually."

Piper hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah," she agreed casually. "Tea is great, but… I actually prefer coffee."

The girl at Leo's elbow gasped. She slipped away and placed both hands on Piper's shoulders. "Do not become a player to life," she told her. "Set your own path. Be different. Do not let people make decisions for you."

Piper nodded. "You know what? You are absolutely right."

The girl laughed. "I am, aren't I? I am _such _a good role model."

"You totally are," Jason agreed.

"You know?" said the girl holding on to him. "I _love_ me. I love being different!"

"Preach it, live it," Leo agreed, and they fist-bumped.

Piper smiled, but it looked forced. "So obviously you thrift shop?" she said.

One of the girls nodded. "Sometimes I even thrift shop _and_ design my own clothes," she said. "Bedazzles, glitter, sequins… that fun stuff!" She leaned over toward her as if she was about to tell Piper a secret. "My favourite colour is red. You know why?"

"Colour of roses?" Jason guessed.

Leo frowned. "Colour of fire?" he tried.

She shook her head, smiling uncannily. "Nope," she told him.

It happened so fast. She lunged, fangs snarling and claws extending, and Piper swung her sword in a motion that neatly cut halfway through her chest. She shrieked horribly, falling to her knees before disintegrating into golden dust.

Her sisters snarled, and suddenly they weren't ordinary American hipsters anymore. Their hair was made of green and red fire, flickering across their pallid white faces. Their left leg was made of Celestial bronze—the other cloven-hooved and furry, like a goat's. Long fangs extended from their top gums, and their bitten fingernails suddenly turned sharp and deadly. Leo saw their clothes as ripped and torn, slashed and destroyed over months of the struggle to survive.

Vampires.

"Now I feel like an idiot," said Leo.

* * *

**That's because you are one, Leo. That's because you are one.**

**-o-O-o-**

**_Slenderniece-Daughter of Nyx:_ Really? Rick? Well, maybe I am him, and a twelve-year-old Canadian girl is just my cover story. (In my defense: I HAVE A LATE BIRTHDAY. ALMOST THIRTEEN.)**

**_M0RKIESTAR:_ I totally agree with you. This story SHOULD be more popular.**

**_Guest:_ Yeah, I tried to make it as similar as I could to Rick's writing. (Meaning FREAKING AWESOME!)**

**_Agent of Chaos:_ Yes, that is a review. (*sarcasm* No, actually it's a goat.)**

**-o-O-o-**

**I think the awesome length of this story deserves a couple more reviews. **


	6. VI LEO

**And now for the long-awaited fight scene! *gets cookies for the show* **

**(::) (::) (::) (::)**

**(PS: Each cookie costs $1 Canadian. So unless you have Canadian currency and know where I live... back off.)**

* * *

**VI LEO**

JASON TOOK OUT HIS WEAPON and Leo summoned fire to his palm.

_"Empousai," _Piper sneered.

"Demigods," the vampires snarled back in perfect unison, advancing slowly. Leo suddenly realized how easily those talons of theirs could slice through him.

"Fight or flight?" he asked Jason, the battle expert.

"Oh, do stay and fight," one of the _empousai_ crooned. "We would be _honoured_ to be the ones to kill you."

The first one leaped, and Piper thrust the side of her blade at her chest. But she was too slow, and the vampire ploughed into her, sending them both tumbling across the street right in the path of a speeding motorcycle. The driver tried to slow down, but the two girls—both the demigod and the monster—were hit head-on and sent flying. Piper cried out, and the _empousai_ screamed. Car tires squealed and mortal pedestrians gasped in fear and terror.

"Piper!" Jason yelled. Forgetting the remaining two vampires, he ran over to the street. Piper was stumbling to her feet, but she fell back down, hurt. The _empousai_ was left sprawled on the street. She didn't move.

"Leo, watch out!" Piper gasped. Leo turned away from his friends and barely dodged decapitation from one of the other vampires. She sent him a kick to the shins with her mechanical bronze leg, and he fell backwards on his rear end. Okay. That totally wasn't embarrassing.

He forced himself back to his feet. The _empousai_ grinned, her hands on her hips. "I'd expect more from you, _demigod,"_ she taunted.

Leo summoned another fireball and chucked it at her. She wasn't suspecting this and it caught her in the chest, causing her to stumble back a step. Her fiery red hair turned a dark shade of blue, and she screeched. It was a horrible noise, one that would be left ringing in Leo's ears for hours. Mortal civilians began to scream and flee the scene in terror. Leo barely had time to consider what they saw when the _empousai_ lunged at him.

Her sharp fingernails went through his left shoulder, leaving five claw-marks that had an uncanny resemblance to a dragged dog's paw. Back at Camp Half-Blood, Leo had participated in a game of capture-the-flag, and someone on the other team had cut his shoulder during a fight. But after a sip of nectar and a good night's rest it was all better. This was so much worse.

He fell backwards against a nearby building wall. His clothes were on fire, which would have been funny on normal circumstances. In the corner of his eye he caught sight of Jason fighting the final vampire himself, while Piper remained knelt on the road, badly hurt.

Leo swung his fist in a wide arch at the vampire's neck, fire racing through his fingertips. The _empousai_ shrieked and tried to scramble away, but her metal leg wasn't good for back-pedaling. He shoved her against the building wall, and blisters began to form on the monster's neck as his hand blazed. She screamed, and sucker-punched him in the face.

Leo cursed in Spanish and stumbled backwards, arms pin-wheeling. The skin on the vampire's neck was melting right off in disgusting bubbles of happiness and joy.

"You have condemned me, demigod," she told him, advancing slowly. Her steps were limped and slow. The vampire's eyes were blood red, filled with rage and fury. Her hands were clenched so hard her fingernails pierced her own skin and drew blood. "My wounds are beyond healing. But if I must die, I want you to come with me."

"Uh, no thanks," Leo told her, pulling out a screwdriver from his tool belt. His hurt shoulder felt hot and sticky. "I don't really like you that way."

When the _empousai_ leaped, Leo was ready. He swung his screwdriver, holding the sharp end toward the outside, and the vampire ran into it. He drove the mechanical tool downwards and the vampire melted into golden powder.

The first thing that hit him was the pain. It had been bad during the fight, but now that it was over… oh, gods. Leo fell to his knees, clasping his left shoulder. The _empousai's_ claws had fallen off when she disintegrated as spoils of war, landing on the sidewalk with five soft _ping_s_._

Jason's vampire seemed to notice all her sisters were dead. She shrieked at the demigods in fury, then turned away and bolted down the street. Jason didn't bother chasing after her. He knelt beside his girlfriend, but she wasn't interested in herself.

"Leo…" she groaned.

He turned and discovered the horrible condition of his other friend. Jason helped Leo to his feet, and leaned him against the building wall.

"Ah, man," he cursed. "That vampire really knows how to"—he winced—"…get under someone's skin." Leo kicked at the remaining five claws lying scattered at his feet.

He looked around. The harbour was practically empty. Sirens could be heard in the distance. "We need to leave," he said, and Jason nodded. He had to help both his hurt friends board the _Argo II._ It was completely deserted.

"Where are the others?" Leo managed as he was leant against the ship's foremast. Jason fished out some ambrosia from the nearby crates and gave his friends some to lessen the pain. Piper even managed to find the strength to bandage Leo's shoulder.

"The others… that's a good question," Jason replied.

"We need to look for them," Piper decided. For the first time Leo seemed to notice how trashed the upper deck was. Fresh slash marks decorated the wood, and pools of what appeared to be dying acid slowly ate away at the framework. Crates were scattered around aimlessly as if a blindfolded man were told to run through them. The soot marks of fire decorated the ship.

Leo nodded. "On it," he said, standing. It hurt to walk, but he made it over to the helm. He picked up his Wii controllers and hit the HOME button. The ship rose into the air.

"Hey, Piper," he called out. "How did you know those four girls were monsters?"

She delicately nibbled on her ambrosia. "Charmspeak," she replied. _"Empousai_ have it, and they were using it." She shrugged. "Not my problem men are so susceptible."

"Hey," Jason commented with a grin, "was that a joke?"

Piper smiled. "Maybe," she said, but her expression grew serious again. "Come on, Leo. The sooner we leave this place, the safer I'll feel."

**-o-O-o-**

_? ? ?_

_It's been several weeks in Ogygia, although I've lost track of the actual days. Calypso kept her distance, but sent me food and drink twice a day to show she remembered. And as much as I loved it there, I missed my wife and family. I wanted to go home. And I still do. Calypso insisted that I shouldn't… or can't. But here I am, leaving._

_Now, as I sit here, watching the endless blue waves carry me toward my crew and home, I reflect upon my visit to Ogygia. I wish I could have done more to help the goddess. But I have the crystal, which should be enough…_

Leo stopped reading. He set the parchment down on his night table and rubbed his tired eyes with the pads of his fingertips. His shoulder still throbbed. The five _empousai_ claws lay scattered on his bed.

He also knew what the astrolabe was going to help them with.

* * *

**And yes, I know what the astrolabe will do. I won't make it up last second, don't worry. (Maybe, unless something happens to the planning.)**

**-o-O-o-**

_**Agent of Chaos:**_** It's not Americans. It's the freaking hipsters that annoy the heck out of me. (And I would know, because half of the girls that go to my school are hipsters.) **

**-o-O-o-**

**Review? I'll lower the price of cookies to .60 British pounds.**


	7. VII HAZEL

**VII HAZEL**

HAZEL HATED BEING KILLED. It was exhausting.

Like that hour they decided to stop at Ithaca. Leo, Jason and Piper headed off, leaving the other four demigods alone on the ship. After a while, Percy and Annabeth decided to go for a walk. Hazel didn't argue. They needed some alone time after… their fall.

She wondered how calm Percy and Annabeth could be about falling into Tartarus. They acted as if it were no big deal. But it _was_ a big deal. Physically they were the same, but Hazel wondered about mentally…

She walked down into the mess hall/lounge, where Frank was curled up on a recliner as a boar. Hazel grinned, sitting down in a chair beside him.

"Hello," she said when he woke. Frank turned back into a human, yawning and stretching.

"Good morning," he replied, even though it was something past noon. "Are the others still gone?"

"Yeah."

"Long enough for us to start worrying?"

"Not yet. Soon, though."

Frank nodded. "How you feeling?" he asked.

Hazel shrugged. She looked down at her hands, which were streaked with old battle scars and bore grimy fingernails. "About as fine a demigod on her way to prevent the rise of mother earth can ever be."

Frank smiled a little. "Are _you_ okay?" Hazel asked him.

He took a deep breath before replying. "I'm fine," he lied.

Hazel cocked her head to a side. "I know that's not true," she said.

Frank threw an arm up in the air sarcastically. "Well, we _are_ a group of demigods on their way to prevent the rise of mother earth. Some of us aren't as calm about it as you are."

Hazel must have looked hurt, because he began apologizing right away. "Oh, gods, Hazel, I'm so sorry. It's just… I'm not so cool about this whole quest thing at the moment. It's changing us. I mean, three of our friends just fell into Tartarus, which is bound to leave some psychological scars. You can now control the Mist, I'm…" It took a moment to find the correct terms. "…Taller, and the two camps are about to go into war against each other. Camps of teenagers, Hazel. Even some little kids of six or seven. I've had to fight so many monsters these past few weeks that if I don't I feel weird. And my father—" He stopped.

"What about Mars?" Hazel asked.

Frank shook his head. "Nothing. I was just—" He winced for no reason.

Hazel had no idea what was up, but it he didn't want to talk about it she wasn't going to press matters. "Yeah, but look at all the good things," she said instead. "The Athena what's-its-name is on its way to Camp Half-Blood to stop that fight. A lot of us are a lot more confident than we were before. And you being taller is a good thing!"

"Sure," he said, but it didn't sound like he believed it.

Hazel stood up and sat down in his chair. "And you have an amazing group of friends to help you," she told him. "Just think, a little less than two more weeks and this'll be over."

"For good or for bad," Frank finished.

"Yeah," she said, and they went quiet.

Hazel was worried about Frank. What was he about to say about his father? Was something wrong? Maybe he had a dream, or Mars had appeared to him in his cabin one day. Whatever it was, it wasn't fun, she could tell.

But all she had to do was believe her own words—in less than two weeks this would be over. For good or for bad. Hopefully for good, because if for bad then they were all dead.

The two of them eventually droned off to sleep, enjoying the other's company. The lazy waves rocked the ship from side to side.

They woke up to the sound of something shattering loudly.

Both demigods were up on their feet in an instant. Hazel looked around the mess hall. Seven lime-coloured snakes with spiky white fins and uncanny yellow eyes slithered around the room as if they owned the place. Two wrestled each other on the coffee table. Two others lay sleeping, while their neighbour watched a muted game of hockey from Canada. Another had just knocked a lamp off a table and sent it shattering to the floor, which was what had woken up Hazel and Frank. And the last one somehow found its way into Piper's cornucopia, and it was munching on purple jellybeans contentedly.

Hazel remembered these things from ROFL. One of them had disintegrated Frank's bow when he smacked it down a hill. To get rid of them he had used a spear his father had given him, which basically set an undead zombie warrior to deal with them. Unfortunately, Gray was long gone.

(Later Leo told her that in the texting world ROFL stood for 'rolling on the floor laughing', which was exactly what Hazel had wanted to do when she learned of Iris's gluten-free, no-sugar-added, vitamin-enriched, soy-free and goat-milk-and-seaweed-based natural Ding Dongs before she realized the goddess was being serious.)

"How did they get on the ship?" Hazel demanded, turning around slowly so that she was back-to-back with Frank.

"The thingamajig that alerted monster attacks and the smokescreen," Frank reminded her. "Broken. Leo said he was going to fix it today."

He didn't have his bow and arrows, Hazel realized. Neither did she have her _spatha. _And why should they have their weapons? The ship was supposedly safe. So she improvised and grabbed a rolling pin from the coffee table. Not exactly a dangerous weapon (okay, not a dangerous weapon at all), but Annabeth told Piper who in turn told Hazel of a story of some mortal girl who hit Kronos in the face with a blue plastic hairbrush. Ordinary household items could become deadly weapons in the hands of a master. Hazel hoped she could be considered one.

The basilisks had left them alone until then because they had obviously blended in with their surroundings, being asleep. But now that they were awake, seven pairs of glowing yellow eyes fixed on them hungrily (except for the one that was already eating whose gaze was more threatening, like it was trying to say, _Don't even think about stealing my jellybeans_).

"We'll never make it out alive if we stay here." Frank spoke in a low voice as to not startle any of the monsters into spontaneous fits of violence (which Hazel guessed was possible). "It's too confined. We need to get to the upper deck."

Hazel wondered how he knew that, then decided it was a kid-of-Mars thing. "You're right," she said. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the air around them. There was Mist everywhere, she discovered, but most of the time it was too diluted to actually do anything. She imagined all the magic in that room rolling together into one to form a cover for her and Frank.

Too late, she realized.

The basilisks attacked. One of them sprung and latched onto Frank's knee, sinking in its fangs. He yelled and kicked it off, but two more shot poison at his face, blinding him. Hazel screamed, and the basilisk that had been lounging in the cornucopia hissed and sprang forward, fire curling from its mouth. Her rolling pin slipped from her grip as she fell forward, dead. Frank collapsed beside her. The demigods were taken down in less than half a minute.

"That's disturbing," Frank commented as they watched the basilisks viciously pulverize their dead Mist corpses.

Hazel grabbed his hand and they ran up to the upper deck. The others still hadn't arrived.

"What do we do?" Frank asked. His bow and arrows were slung over a shoulder in backpack-mode, paint green. Hazel noticed the backpack was never the same colour twice. Most of the time it was blue. Sometimes it was orange. Once it had turned hot pink with purple dancing llamas.

"Duck!" Hazel shouted, and she swung her rolling pin over Frank's head. She hit the leaping basilisk right in the face, and it sailed over the side of the ship in some demented demigod version of baseball.

She dropped her disintegrating rolling pin. Three more basilisks (not including the one Hazel neatly home-ran) waited for them on the top deck, the other seven arriving from below, surprised but mostly extremely annoyed to find Hazel and Frank were still alive.

"Eleven," Frank noticed. "Wow. Gaea isn't underestimating us, is she?"

"We need to get out of here," Hazel decided.

"Well, there's only one thing to do in a fight like this," Frank said, sounding as if he were prepping himself for something he was seriously not looking forward to.

"Flee?" Hazel asked hopefully.

Frank turned into a weasel.

Hazel thought they were done for. But actually, the basilisks went berserk. They shrieked in terror, trying to turn t run away. Seeing Frank as an ordinary household pet instantly reminded Hazel of Gale the polecat, and she would have laughed out loud if the sight of a screeching mad weasel chasing away ten terrified monstrous mythological creatures wasn't already making her crack up uncontrollably. The basilisks took a suicidal leap of faith over the _Argo II_, and ten tiny splashes were audible.

"Wow," coughed Hazel between her laughs, impressed. "Ten monsters beaten by a weasel. Maybe Gaea_ did_ underestimate us." She turned to Frank as he turned back into a human. "Where did you learn that trick?"

He shrugged. "Iris," he replied simply.

"But did she mention why they're so afraid of weasels?"

Frank hesitated, then leaned close to her ear and whispered it to her. She made a disgusted face.

"Seriously?" she asked. "That's messed up."

"I had the same reaction," he replied, then gazed back to the streets of Ithaca. "We should think about finding the others."

Hazel nodded. "Gaea would have sent more monsters out for us. I know it." Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "I hate Mondays."

Together they leaped over the railing of the ship and raced to the streets.

* * *

**And, no, I did not make up the weasel thing. In the Son of Neptune, Iris legitimately told Frank basilisks were terrified of weasels, although in the book it was never said why.**

**Pleassse review! Reviews make me happy.**

**PS: Did you see that new thing on Rick's website about the Argo II? I died laughing.**


	8. VIII HAZEL

**VIII HAZEL**

NOW THEY WERE AT SEA AGAIN, sailing toward Athens.

Annabeth had taken control of the ship, since she was the only member of the crew other than Leo who had half an idea of what all the shiny exploding buttons did. Hazel and Frank had found her and Percy near the center of town, just when half a dozen telkhines decided to show up their ugly dog faces. (Gaea was obviously knowing what she was doing if she sent four _empousai,_ eleven basilisks, and six telkhines to destroy seven teenagers.) Right on cue, the _Argo II_ hit a spectacular entrance performance and shot the rest of the monsters out with the ballistae.

Percy and Frank were on guard duty while Jason took a midday nap. Piper was helping Hazel clean up the mess in the mess hall.

"Quite a fight," Piper noticed. Poison sat in little puddles all around the room, and all the furniture was overturned. Even her cornucopia was considerably less shiny.

"Yeah," Hazel agreed as she tossed a pillow at Piper, who in turn put it down on one of the recliners. The TV was broken, frozen right when the Canadian team was about to score a goal in their opponent's net. The coffee table was utterly destroyed, obliterated into indefinable splinters and glass shards. The TV remote had somehow melted right onto the floor as a permanent display in the room. Hazel hoped someone fixed that before someone else tripped. "But rumour has it you were hit by a motorcycle."

Piper shrugged. "It's possible. Either way, after a little food of gods I was all better. Leo got vampire knives lodged in his shoulder."

Hazel nodded as if this were new news, even though she had already been told. "Frank turned into a weasel to scare away ten basilisks," she offered.

Piper snorted. "Seriously?" she asked, shaking out a pillow to even the feathers inside.

"They just screamed in terror and jumped over the side of the boat," Hazel continued, doing the same with another pillow.

"Do you know why?" Piper asked.

Hazel hesitated, then leaned close to her ear and whispered it. Piper made a disgusted face.

"Ew," she said. "That's messed up."

"I had the same reaction," Hazel replied. She stretched and yawned, looking around the room. It was back to how it had (mostly) been before the attack. "It's been a long day," she said. "Fighting genetically-mutated horses and monsters that have a secret fear of weasels can wear a girl down."

"Better than most days," Piper offered, and Hazel had to agree.

"Well, I'm going to hit the hay," she finished. "See you tomorrow, Piper."

"See ya," she replied, falling backwards on a recliner as Hazel left the room. She walked into her cabin and quickly brushed her teeth (it was weird how Hazel still insisted on performing normal day-to-day activities despite their dangerous circumstances), crawling into bed.

Of course, sleep meant dreams, which never meant good news.

**-o-O-o-**

Reyna stood with her hands on her hips on the top of a hill, facing a tiny picturesque French village as the sun set behind it. The sky was painted magnificent colours of red, yellow and blue. The praetor wore the same jeans and T-shirt she had when arriving to collect the Athena Parthenos, although her hair was let loose and was gently swaying in the breeze. She sighed and turned away from the village, revealing the forty-foot tall statue lying on its side at the foot of the opposite end of the hill. Nico lay sleeping against the mini-statue of Nike, and Hazel was shocked how pale his complexion was. All his shadowtravelling was definitely not doing him any favors.

Then there was the coach, who sat on Athena's broad ivory arm, fingering a simple paper picture. Hazel saw it to be a woman sitting behind a secretary's desk, mouth open as if voicing a protest. She was bringing a hand up to her face, but the shot was already taken. Her skin tone was pale but not deathly so, and her hair was a beautiful wavy copper that went down just past her shoulders. The slightest hint of a baby bump was visible.

_Mellie,_ Hazel thought. Coach Hedge's wife. Frank mentioned that the two got married, but he never said anything about a baby. It was obvious by how Hedge fingered the picture that he loved and missed her terribly.

_"Alas," _a voice spoke from seemingly nowhere, _"as much as they try, your other friends are still too far away…"_

The scene around her shifted. It was the senators of Camp Jupiter and Octavian, huddled around a map of southern Long Island. Little red Xs and black dotted lines indicated battle plans. Then everything faded away to show the Camp Half-Blood demigods at the mess hall. They were all eating, but no one spoke. There was a tense silence that felt eerie and unnatural with such a large group. They were dressed up in armour and all bore weapons, prepared for any sudden attack.

Her dream changed.

Hazel stood on a street corner while a home across the road burned down. The only sound was the one of burning wood and the soft wails of a fire truck in the distance. Perhaps two minutes away, three at most.

In front of the house a woman was knelt. She wore a simple white gown and her chocolate brown hair was illuminated by the glow of the fire. A goat sadly pawed at the ground beside her. Hazel jogged across the street to meet up with her.

"What a shame," she said, her voice sorrowful but even. She hadn't turned to face Hazel, but it was as if she could tell she was there. "This was such a nice family. The mother and father loved each other so much. And they had three beautiful children, one who was not even yet two."

She paused for a moment, allowing the cries of sirens to take over the night.

"The middle child will survive the flames," she continued, drawing her finger through the dirt in front of her. "No one else. He will be raised in foster homes, where people are paid to love him. He will grow up, get a job, and eventually die of old age. He will never know a true family." The woman placed a hand over her heart. "If Gaea rises, so many innocent families will be crushed. So many lives will be grown without the love of a brother or sister, or a mother or father." She looked up to face the bright flickering flames once more.

"Only you and your companions, Hazel Levesque, can stop Gaea," she continued. "But she will try to stop you. She will try to separate you and try to kill you, like she did in Ithaca. Then she shall rise, and it will be the end of the world. The earth herself will destroy all gods and demigods."

The goddess went silent, her eyes closed. Hazel thought she had forgotten about her, until a minute later she added, "You will not be able to defeat her by yourself. Seek the help of someone nearby." Another brief pause. "Do not let any more families such as this one suffer," she finished.

The goddess got to her feet and ran barefoot down the street. The goat turned to face Hazel, brayed once, and bounded after her. The approaching sirens faded into the background. The bright burning colours of the fire dimmed. Hazel tried to call out to her, but everything was melting together…

She woke to Frank shaking her shoulder.

"Get up," he said. "We're having a meeting."

* * *

**Review, please! Cookies are now only 2.29 Chinese Yuan! (::) (::) (::)**


	9. IX HAZEL

**Hello!**

**I just remembered it's my birthday on Friday. I know it sounds suspicious, but go back to my story MODP, chapter eleven or something like that- that chapter was written exactly a year ago, and I was obsessing over the fact that it was my birthday soon. (Turning twelve then, turning thirteen now.)**

**(a.k.a.: Birthday reviews!)**

* * *

**IX HAZEL**

THE OTHERS WERE ALREADY THERE. Annabeth stood at the head of the table like the good old days, which reminded Hazel that she and Percy were safe and out of Tartarus. Piper was still in her pyjamas. Leo was looking a lot better; the bandage around his shoulder had turned into five Sesame Street band-aids. (This could just be Hazel, but whenever she glanced in that direction Elmo seemed to be staring right through her soul.)

Hazel took a seat beside Frank, and Annabeth begun.

"So, guys," she said, "we're on our way to Athens. We sort of decided earlier to go around the bottom of Greece, but perhaps it would be a better idea to change course."

Frank frowned, squinting, as if waiting for the reason to become visible along the horizon. "Why?" he asked.

"Gaea knew we were in Gaios and Ithaca by sending Pelops and—what was it? Eleven basilisks, four vampires, and six telkhines," Percy explained. "Wow. She's not being stupid."

"Ah, dang it," said Leo, leaning back on the last two legs of his chair. "I really like the stupid bad guys. They make the story's plot a lot funnier."

"Basically she knows we're headed to Athens, and she'll try to stop us," Jason guessed. "If she knows our course of direction, she can send over more enemies, and then…"

"We're basically doomed," Frank finished. "Is it just me or are we doomed a lot?"

"The bottom line is that we can't afford to stop anywhere until we get to Athens," continued Annabeth. "There are too many risks of attack."

Piper raised a hand. "I have a question," she stated. "It sounds like to me Gaea is trying to kill us all right away. Doesn't she need a girl's and a guy's blood to rise and be able to laugh diabolically over her victory?"

"She does," replied Annabeth.

The conversation came to a grim stop as everyone remembered that bit.

Hazel suddenly recalled her dream. "I saw the goddess," she announced.

The others turned to stare at her. _"What?"_ Percy asked.

Hazel then realized that to the others what she just said would have made as much sense as if she suddenly blurted out 'pancakes'. "That woman Leo had a dream about in Ithaca… I saw her as well," she explained, her eyes hovering warily over Elmo. "There was also Reyna, Nico and Coach Hedge."

"Are they okay?" Jason asked, concerned.

"There're safe," she reassured everyone quickly. "This woman… goddess… whatever, was talking about what would happen if Gaea rose." She frowned, remembering the other part. "There was also a goat."

"Ugh," said Piper. "I hate that goat."

"Wait." Annabeth froze. "A goat?"

"Yeah," said Leo. "Nobody told you about goats? Well, they're these really ugly creatures that bray a lot, climb mountains, and are relatives to the sheep. They can eat _anything_."

Annabeth closed her eyes. "I know what a goat is," she told Leo. "But you say that the goat is always with the goddess?"

"Yes," Jason said.

"Well… the goat is Hestia's sacred animal," Annabeth explained hesitantly. If she expected people to suddenly stop eating and gasp in horror, she was disappointed. The Romans mostly tried to remember who the heck Hestia was, and the Greeks tried to figure out why this was important.

Frank frowned, his eyebrows knitted together. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Hestia the Greek goddess of fire?"

Percy sat back on the last two legs of his chair, his expression demonstrating that he knew this Hestia person. "Actually it's the hearth, Frank. But why would anyone have a… a _goat_ as their holy livestock?"

Leo shrugged. "Hey. We fire people are weird," he said.

"Does, um, anyone know the story of Hestia's goat?" Annabeth asked. She seemed like she didn't want to be the one to explain it.

"Yeah," Piper said. "Hestia was at this party, and she fell asleep. There was this guy who tried to… um…"

"Take advantage," Hazel offered.

"Sure. This guy who tried to _take advantage_ of her, but there was this goat, and it brayed real loud and woke Hestia up. She remained thankful to it and made it her sacred animal."

"I just have one question," Percy started seriously. "What on earth was a _goat_ doing at an Olympian party?"

Piper shrugged. "Hey. Greek myths don't make sense. That's why people love them."

"Yeah, but this lady was Roman," said Leo. "I could tell by her shoes." He frowned. "Wow. That is seriously not something I thought I would ever say in my life."

Annabeth nodded hesitantly. "Okay, then. Maybe she's Vesta, Hestia's Roman counterpart." She turned back to Hazel. "Was there anything else in your dream?" she asked her.

"Yes. Hestia… Vesta… whoever, mentioned that we would need help. Help from somewhere nearby." She glanced around at the others' faces. "Does that make sense?" She shook her head, answering her own question. "No, it doesn't. I really hate gods who talk in freaking hieroglyphics."

"Well, what could that mean?" Jason wondered.

There was a pause as everyone thought of it. Hazel scanned her eyes across the faces of their group and realized how much they'd each lost for the sake of this quest. Herself included. And if they failed… then they were about to lose a lot more.

Breakfast was interrupted by the sound of something exploding.

"Again?" Leo asked as they all rose from their seats. They were about to run for the stairs when the ship lurched to a sudden stop. Piper lost her footing and landed face first in Frank's oatmeal. Jason crashed into a wall.

The others raced downstairs to where the explosion was heard. They were led into the mechanism what's-it-called room, where coiled up happily around a humming warm engine was a basilisk. Acid dripped down from one of the engine's now-immobile gears.

"So Gaea _did_ send a dozen," Frank murmured. "I thought it was weird she only sent eleven." He shot the basilisk with an arrow. Asleep, it was an easy target.

Leo walked over to the engine, dusting monster disintegration filth off the gears and rapping his knuckles against the frame. "Well, it's damaged," he announced, standing back. He continued staring at the engine, as if calculating all the dangerous power tools and chemicals he would need to fix it. "Most acid will do that to a machine. But fortunately, it's reparable."

There was a shocked silence as the others stared at him.

"Is that good news?" Percy clarified. "Gods, it's been such a long time since I've heard some."

"But I'll need some extra materials I can't pull out of a hat," Leo continued, tapping his chin in thought.

Frank frowned. "But you have a tool belt that does the same thing," he noted.

Their mechanic ignored this comment and kept thinking. He sighed. "Guys, I know we're not supposed to do this, but we're going to need to dock somewhere."

Percy's shoulders slouched. "And there it is," he said.

**-o-O-o-**

Percy helped them dock the _Argo II._ He stood at the top of the foremast and extended his arms in front of him, as if bestowing a sacred demigod blessing on the ship. The waves pulled the boat toward the nearest town's harbour. Leo looked up the place in his all-knowing Archimedes sphere and identified the city as Patras, along with that the town was the third largest urban area in Western Greece, sported a Roman amphitheatre for tourists (from back in the day when the Romans owned basically half of Europe), and sold amazing hot dogs.

It was decided that Leo, Annabeth and Jason would go get the supplies to fix the engine—"strength in numbers," Annabeth explained—while the other four stayed to defend the ship in case any monsters decided to attack. Hazel was perfectly fine with the arrangements.

"We'll be back in an hour or two," Jason promised.

"Yeah!" Leo exclaimed, reaching into his tool belt and pulling out a few Greek coins. "I'm gonna get a chilli dog!"

A few minutes after they left Percy excused himself downstairs claiming that he needed to rest, leaving Piper, Frank and Hazel to hang out on the ship's upper deck.

Piper kept reaching to her side for her sword. She hadn't claimed to own one yet, instead preferring to use a different one from the _Argo II's_ armoury every day. She hadn't found one she liked yet. Today's was imperial gold.

At least now that the ship was docked Hazel's seasickness had receded. She leaned forward on the railing, staring at the city expanding before her. Cars drove just behind the harbour, filled with busy commuters on their way to work. The city expanded in typical urban buildings—several stories tall, each one designed differently yet similar. Somewhere in the distance a spectacular white bridge expanded across the small river connecting the Gulf of Patras and the Gulf of Corinth.

"Hey!" someone called. It took Hazel a moment to realize it was she who was being addressed, and a few extra seconds to identify who it was. It was a stunning young woman waving her arms at the ship, yelling for attention.

Piper and Frank joined Hazel at the railing.

"Who is she?" Frank asked.

"I have no idea," said Piper. "Should we go see what she wants?"

Hazel took another look at the woman. Whatever she needed, it looked urgent. She didn't look like a monster, but then again a lot of things didn't look like hideous creatures at the beginning. Take Miley Cyrus.

But Hazel could tell when someone was using the Mist to change his or her appearance. And this lady wasn't. Also, Vesta said something about them needing help from someone. Was it this? Hazel decided to give the lady the benefit of the doubt.

"Come on," she decided. "Let's go see what she wants."

* * *

**And no, they will not die. Hopefully.**


	10. X PIPER

**X PIPER**

PIPER DIDN'T TRUST THIS LADY. Her cheery attitude only confirmed her thoughts of, _Okay, she's here on a top-secret mission from Gaea to assassinate us. Let's kill her._

She stood on the harbour, waiting for them with her arms crossed. A simple dagger hung by her hip, but she made no attempt to grab it. And if it came down to a fight, she was outnumbered three to one… unless there was backup nearby.

Piper decided to be on guard just in case.

"There you are," she scolded, although it was said with playfulness. "I was starting to doubt you guys." No charmspeak. Okay. That was one less thing to worry about, although Piper still wouldn't allow herself to underestimate her. Underestimation was a one-way ticket to embarrassing and often excruciating death.

"Who are you?" Hazel demanded, straight to the point. "How do you know us?"

The woman rolled her eyes, waving her hand as if brushing away the thought. "How do I know you? You guys are the need-to-know news, Hazel, Frank and Piper. Olympus Weekly even dedicated an entire article section to you guys. Of course, it doesn't get all the awesome juicy details like the relationship drama and whatnot, but the main ideas are present." She shrugged. "You guys are famous. Deal with it."

Piper was suddenly struck with the idea that this lady was a goddess. She was certainly beautiful enough to be one. Curling red hair that reached to her waist, and startling blue eyes. She wore a simple white T-shirt under a worn-out blue sweater and plain old jeans, and even though she tried to cover up her beauty she still got open-mouthed stares from passing by boys. One guy walked into a pole.

Frank nodded hesitantly, as if uncertain of how to react with being the main idea of a godly newspaper. "Great. That's… wonderful?" It came out as a question. "But you never said who you were."

The woman grinned, as if anticipating the enquiry. "Call me Cassie," she decided. Piper was certain that was short for something (they always were), but instead asked a more prominent question.

"Why did you come to see us?" she said.

Cassie started, hesitated, then continued anyway. "So basically it goes like this; I'm one of those Thanatos-chained folk that managed to escape back into the real life. And in my first life, I was able to see into the future."

Frank frowned. "Oracle or augur?" he asked.

"Neither," Cassie explained. She struggled with finding the right words, deciding on, "I sort of had these flashes of moving pictures in my head. Mini-videos, you can put it. They're sort of like the things you see in your dagger, Piper."

Piper flinched. "How do you know about Katoptris?" she demanded sharply. Cassie wasn't threatened.

"I knew Helen," she replied simply as if being asked what her favourite colour was. "I mean, the original Helen of the Trojan war. We were actually good friends, while we weren't under the constant threat of attack."

Hazel was the first to put two and two together. "You're Cassandra, the daughter of King Priam of Troy," she accused.

Cassie didn't deny it, although she seemed a bit more down now that her secret was out. "Yeah," she said, shrugging casually. "That's me."

"I know this story," said Piper. "Apollo fell in love with you, and gave you the ability to see into the future. But when you refused to kiss him, he made it a curse so that nobody would believe your prophecies."

"Yeah," Cassandra sighed, twirling a lock of her beautiful red hair around a finger. "Some people say I went mad. Really, I didn't. Poets just like the idea of a psychotic princess. I saw the destruction of my beloved kingdom in my dreams, but did anyone believe my warnings? Of course not." She sighed tiredly, as if it were still a slightly frustrating concept but she had gotten over most of it.

"But what's done is done, right?" she continued. "That happened, like, three thousand years ago. I came here to tell you that I had a vision. About you guys."

Piper was honestly intrigued. So when Hazel snorted and rolled her eyes, it came as a bit of a surprise. "Really, Cassie? A vision? That's ridiculous."

As a matter of fact, Piper was beginning to find the idea slightly ludicrous herself. Okay, they ruled the idea of her being a monster out, but maybe she was like Khione—a normal minor goddess fighting on the wrong side. Or perhaps an ordinary mortal agent working for Gaea.

That was possible, right?

"You have thirty seconds to convince us this isn't an ambush," Piper decided, pulling out Katoptris.

Cassandra raised her hands in the air slightly, as if admitting defeat. "Okay, okay," she said quickly. "Just listen, and try to believe me." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Four ways you'll have to go, for four gifts from four people; the giver of life, the slayer of life, the maintainer of life, and the protector of life; one backwards the way you came, one to where it all started, one down south and out of way, and one just cross the shore."

There was a pause.

"That's it?" Frank asked.

Cassandra shrugged. "My visions aren't always the clearest," she admitted.

Hazel shook her head in disgust. "This was a waste of time," she decided. "Come on, guys, let's go."

Frank followed her back to the ship. Piper was about to as well, but Cassandra caught her by the wrist.

"Please,"she begged. "My curse won't let you believe me now, and I understand that. But later on… just think of this. Consider it. _Try_ to believe me. This may be able to help you."

Piper wrestled out of her grip easily and tried for a kind smile. "You might want to consider getting out of the country," she offered as gently as possible. "There's a war going on."

Then she turned and followed Hazel back to the ship.

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**I like reviews, BTW.**


	11. XI PIPER

**XI PIPER**

PIPER STOOD AT THE RAILING of the _Argo II_, watching the crystal blue waves crash against the ship's hull. Cold water droplets splashed onto her face. A cool summer breeze filled the air.

She didn't notice Jason until he was standing right beside her. "Hey," he said, nudging her on the shoulder with his own.

"Hey," she replied, trying for a smile. As he looked out at sea, his blond hair swept to one side in the wind, and his handsome scar from years ago curved upwards in a smile, even though smiling in their current condition seemed to be the last thing the demigods would be expected to do (except maybe laugh, which was actually really depressing). Piper slipped her hand into his.

"Beautiful day," she commented. Jason squeezed her hand and nodded. They had started their route towards Athens a few hours ago, after Leo fixed the engine with a bit of Annabeth's help. Piper had heard lots of explosions.

"What do you expect in Athens?" she asked out of the blue. For a long while Jason didn't respond, and Piper figured he hadn't heard her. But finally he decided, "Lots of fighting. It'll be hard."

Piper instinctively reached down to her side and fingered the hilt of her gold sword. "We've been through hard before," she reminded him. "Right?"

Jason didn't reply. But this time there wasn't a way for him to pretend he hadn't heard.

A white bird landed on the railing a few meters away from them. It looked at them and cocked its head.

"Hi," Piper told it. "You lost?"

The bird cooed and waddled over to them. Piper almost didn't see it, but barely contrasting against its white feathers was a note tied to its neck. The bird shook its head up and down as if trying to make them notice it, or maybe it was just having a neck spasm.

"Could be an automation programmed to explode," Jason noted. "Some monsters trying to blow us up."

"Maybe," Piper replied, but she didn't think so. She carefully untied the note from the bird's neck and it flew off, ruling out the idea of exploding pigeons. Cautiously and with two fingers, Piper unraveled the parchment, easily able to throw it overboard if it decided to shoot lava at her face or grow Popeye arms and start throwing punches.

The writing was written in pink cursive, almost illegible by how fancy it was. Piper squinted at the words, and Jason joined her. There were only two words written.

_Hello? Piper?_

Piper was officially spooked. She let go of the parchment, wringing her hands. "Oh my—_Gaahh..._" she exclaimed, slowly walking backwards. Her hand instinctively reached for the cornucopia strapped to her back. A jellybean was weakly spat out. Jason grabbed the letter again before the wind could carry it off.

_Oh, hi, Jason! You're there too?_

He frowned at the page, and turned it over. He hollered over his shoulder, "Leo, this better not be one of your pranks!"

_No, not him. _The words appeared in the center of the page, the ones before them simply fading away. _Piper, this is for you, so get over here!_

Jason turned to his girlfriend. "Piper, the magic letter wants you to read what it has to say," he told her.

Deciding she had seen weirder than parchment with a mind of its own, Piper walked over and took the letter with one hand, the other still gripping her cornucopia hard.

_Hey! Piper! So good to see you... theoretically speaking, of course._

Piper wasn't sure how to respond. She glanced over at Jason, who shrugged unhelpfully. She lowered her face down to the page and spoke loudly, "Who is this?"

_Oh, no need to do that, dear. Just talk. _

Piper wanted to face-palm, but if she did she'd impale herself with the pointy end of her cornucopia. There was only one person who would call her 'dear'. "Mom," she gritted through her teeth.

_Why do you sound so disappointed? _the parchment read. _Am I that much of a let-down?_

_And worse,_ Piper thought, but decided it would be better for her health if it remained not spoken out loud.

Jason looked confused. "That's your mom?" he asked, peering over at the sheet. "She has really illegible handwriting."

_Sorry, Mr. Demigod-That-Is-Dating-My-Daughter-And-Can-Barely-Spell-His-Own-Name-Right-Due-To-Dyslexia, that my handwriting doesn't fit your handwriting needs. Anyway, Piper, if your boyfriend wasn't so cute I would totally set a bunch of curses on him for that._

"Why are you here?" Piper asked instead. "Even better question: _How_ are you here? The gods are stuck in multiple-personality problems, aren't they?"

_Yes, but it's weaker on me because love is awesome and stuff. But if I tried to appear to you guys in person or to Piper in her dreams it wouldn't work, so that's where the letter solution comes in! Fortunately for you guys I was able to push Venus back this long, so I don't have all the time in the world for this—which will be exactly eleven more days if you fail, mind you._

"Thanks for reminding us," Piper muttered.

_I'm here to help you! _The words faded. _Don't tell Zeus._

_Anyway, you remember that sorta kinda not-really 'prophecy' Cassie gave you guys? Ha ha... it's funny, 'cause actually, back in the day, Cassandra's beauty was compared to Helen's and mine. Never really liked her because of that, but it's a real pity about her curse._

Jason gave Piper a confused look, like, _Who the heck is Cassie? _She gave him another look: _Long story, not now._

"Focus, Mom," she said aloud, feeling very stupid she was calling a piece of paper 'Mom'.

_Of course. __You need to seek the slayer of life back the way you came, the protector of life where it all started, the giver of life south and away, and the maintainer just across the shore. __Simple, in theory._

"But who are those people?" Jason asked, having no idea what was going on. "Piper?"

"Yeah, I'm getting to you," she told him. "Mom, what?"

She had a feeling the parchment would sigh if it could._ You really are clueless, aren't you? Just think about it, Piper. Just—_

The paper went blank. The handwriting changed from cursive pink to fancy blue, and the paper flickered pale violet before returning to beige.

"What's going on?" Jason asked. Piper gripped the paper with both hands, and felt it growing warmer in her hands.

_No worries! _it flickered in pink cursive, but changed to the blue. The two colours flared on and off, as if wrestling for control over the parchment. _Just Venus! Okay, GTG. Luv you, Piper! Stay hot, Jason! _

The paper kept growing warmer in Piper's hands. She wanted to let go, but there were things still being written.

_Oh, and r__emember!_ she managed to catch sight of. _Homeric__ hymn number twenty-fou__—_

That was all she could read before the parchment burst into flames. She let go in surprise, and the letter flew off into the ocean.

"Piper!" Jason shouted in alarm. He grabbed her hands and checked for burns. There weren't any, although her palms were slightly red.

"I'm okay," Piper told him distantly. She was staring at the last place she had seen the letter, flying off in the summer breeze. Piper swallowed. She didn't usually feel bad for her mother; she was a goddess, after all. She could summon things out of thin air, and enter the minds of her children just to annoy them. But this worried her.

"We need a meeting," she decided.

* * *

**It's funny, because before first I was going to have Piper see her mom in a dream (but I already did that twice in this story), then I was going to have her mom evade her mind (but that idea is just dumb), so I ended up settling with a note.**

**Anyway, I'm half finished the next chapter, and it's really short, so it'll be up soon. Be happy!**

**I like reviews. And cookies. (::) (::) *nibbles on cookie delicately***


	12. XII PIPER

**XII PIPER**

THIS WAS THEIR THIRD MEETING since the House of Hades. Everyone was tired of meetings. So they decided to have a 'gathering' on the upper deck instead, which they all agreed was very different from a 'meeting'.

"I hate meetings," was the first thing anyone said. (Leo, of course.)

Piper glanced around the crew. Frank clutched at the railing, scowling at nothing. She wondered if he was okay. Leo's eyes continually trailed over to the horizon, every so often snapping back to the group. But they would eventually trek off again. The only demigod not present was Hazel, and Piper wondered where she was. Although her queasiness had become easier to handle throughout the trip, the youngest of the group was probably feeling sick from all their travelling.

"What's up?" Annabeth asked, hands on her hips. Her eyebrows were coated in grease from fixing the engine, as if an _empousai_ did her makeup.

"Well, my mom spoke to me," Piper started. "Me and Jason."

"Okay, I'm already lost," Leo interrupted. _"What?"_

Piper bit her lip. "So, this'll sound ridiculous, but Aphrodite sent me a letter. I mean, a mental telepathic conversation would have made more sense, honestly."

"Telepathic conversations aren't that crazy," Frank offered offhandedly, leaning against the railing. Piper wondered what he meant by that.

"And what did she say?" Percy prompted.

"Cassandra," she said simply. "While you were away, Hazel, Frank and I met a girl who called herself Cassandra. She gave us a… what would you call it? A mini, ambiguous, completely ludicrous and senseless prophecy."

Percy shrugged. "All prophecies are like that. Don't feel so bad."

"It was just listing off a bunch of people," Frank offered the group. "Giver, maintainer, protector, and murderer."

"That last one sounds violent," Leo noted.

"I think the proper term was 'slayer'," Piper corrected. "But my mom also mentioned places. I think it was… 'one backwards the way you came, one to where it all started, one down south and out of way, and one just cross the shore.'"

"Of course," Annabeth cried, speaking up for the first time since the beginning of the well-pronounced 'gathering'. "How did I not put it together earlier? I'm so stupid."

"Okay, stop right there," said Percy. "Just tell us what you marvelously figured out, and refrain from calling yourself an idiot for several minutes beforehand. I know smart people like to do this, but it annoys _everyone_."

"You have no idea how much it annoys us," Leo helped, nodding as if it were all very wise.

Annabeth almost rolled her eyes, but caught herself and just started explaining. "Vesta helped us. Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. Vesta, the protector of the family. The protector of life. The protector of the original hearth—_where it all started."_

"And?" Jason prompted.

"That's where we'll find her," Annabeth said, folding her arms surely. "Up on Mount Olympus."

* * *

***winces at the shortness of this chapter* I'll put the next chapter up soon, I promise.**

**Who do you think's POV will be next? There's only Frank, Annabeth and Jason left.**


	13. XIII ANNABETH

**Sorry this took a while to update. On the plus side (for me at least), there's, like, almost two feet of snow outside. We already made a snowman.**

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**XIII ANNABETH**

"MOUNT OLYMPUS, YOU SAY?" said Frank, scratching the back of his head. "So, like, the original Olympus, or just the mountain, or…?"

"The place," Annabeth declared, nodding firmly. She was certain of it. "The castle of Olympus was built on the mountain of Olympus. We need to go there."

"Yeah, but that'll be a major-devious detour we're talking here," said Leo, and she could already see him performing calculations and estimates in his head. "It'll set us back a day or two."

Piper came to help her out. "If all our crazy dreams and psychic conversations are true, then we're going to need to detour anyway," she said.

Leo shrugged. "Alright. I'm cool with it. But, uh, does anyone know what we're going to be doing on Olympus anyway?"

"There should be a temple," Annabeth started. She never liked pulling facts from a hat, but somehow she knew this was right. It made sense, at least. "That's where we'll get our answers."

Jason raised his hand. "But, uh, aren't we not supposed to go near the mountains? It's one of the reasons why we decided to go under Greece and not through or over it. We can't fly to Olympus, much less stop, let a few demigods out to search for an hour or two, and leave without some internal organs missing."

Annabeth hated it, but he was right. "Then maybe it isn't Olympus," she said, furiously trying to think of something else.

Piper spoke out next. "But if Olympus is our only option, I say we go there," she decided. There seemed to be something else on her mind, the way her eyes drifted upwards as if trying to remember something.

Before Annabeth could ponder it, Leo said, "Well, that's awesome. I'll just let Festus know of the plans…" He strolled casually toward the helm of the ship, whistling a few notes of Imagine Dragons.

Annabeth stared out at sea, her hands clutching the railing. "I just hope I'm not wrong," she said.

"Hey, if it's anyone's fault that we're going to the wrong place, it's mine," said Piper. "After all, it was _my_ mom who told us about all this through a magic letter that self-destructed by bursting into flames after her other personality got in the way." She sighed, looking down at her feet. "I hate being a demigod."

Percy glanced over at Annabeth and grinned. "Tell me about it," he said.

**-o-O-o-**

"Large rock ahead!" Leo screamed through the intercom some hours later. Annabeth was so startled she nearly slipped down the staircase and got a concussion. (Imagine all she had managed to get through to be bested by a flight of stairs. Yeah. She was upset too.) Annabeth stormed back to the upper deck, ready to give Leo a nice verbal smack-down, when she saw the mountain.

Extending on the horizon, Olympus was so large she was surprised its snow-capped peaks didn't slip right off. Clouds literally gathered at its summits, and the mountain overlooked several tiny villages in a multitude of directions.

The rest of the crew gathered on the deck. "Whoa," Piper breathed. "No wonder the Greeks thought that this was where the gods lived."

"In mythology, it was said that the mountain formed itself after the Olympians defeated the Titans for the first time," Annabeth started. "Which means we're flying over the battle site of a godly war."

"Well, millions of people live in New York, and _that_ place is technically a battle site of a godly war," Percy added. "Do they care? Nope."

Annabeth decided to ignore him. "Now the problem is how we're going to get there without alerting any _ourae,"_ she said, pointing up at the mountain's summit.

"Well, in the immortal words of Coach Hedge, we could just soar up there ballistae screaming and blazing," Frank offered.

"I could use the Mist to shield us from view," Hazel suggested instead. "At least, to get us there. I won't be able to keep the cloak on for more than half an hour. I'll get tired, and the magic will begin to dissipate."

"And I can set up the recently-fixed-literally-thirty-minutes-ago smokescreen to hide us once we're there," offered Leo. "Plus, the last time we tried navigating the mountains we had the Athena Parthenos, which is basically a magical beacon for all mythological creatures within a five-mile radius. We have a better chance of survival now."

"It'll have to do," Annabeth decided. "But we need to decide who'll go. No more than three, or else we'll alert the mountain gods."

"I can go," Jason offered, "because this is a high-up mountain, and my dad is the god of high-up places."

"I can go too," said Piper. "It was my mom who told us to come here, after all." She still seemed as if trying to remember something. Annabeth really hoped it was just a grocery list or something.

But instead of pressing for matters she nodded. "I'll be the third member of the party," Annabeth decided. The mountain was approaching, and she could see the lazy figure of a giant sleeping god. Leo rushed off to activate the smokescreen, and Hazel to start bending the Mist. Annabeth began to feel really hopeful about their mission, which was her first mistake.

**-o-O-o-**

Five minutes later Piper, Jason and Annabeth were on the mountain. They had decided to avoid the snow-capped peaks, deciding on stopping somewhere near the center of the mountain.

"Dang it, it's freezing up here," said Piper, shivering. "Isn't it supposed to be summer?"

"Mountains are cold," Annabeth simply replied as they trekked. (She, of course, was wearing a sweater.) "Now, just over half an hour is our time limit. We need to find this giver of life and whatever, and keep going."

They marched on in silence for a couple of other minutes.

"How big is this mountain?" Jason wondered. "We could walk around for days and still not find this place."

Annabeth stopped and pointed at something ahead of them. "There," she announced. There was a small decaying building, perhaps the size of her home in California. Made of crumbling marble, it looked abandoned. The half-bloods rushed over.

It was an open-spaced area, so they walked right in. The floor was cracked and uneven. The crumbling marble podiums protected the room from most of the chilling breeze.

"Hello?" Annabeth called. "Anyone in here?"

No reply, except for the cold whistling wind.

"I don't like this," Piper decided, hugging herself.

Jason rushed forward. At first Annabeth didn't see what he saw, until he stopped beside a small flickering fire in the center of the temple. Its warmth emitted through the vast but empty room, though Annabeth didn't see any smoke. Piper walked over and held her hands over the fire, warming her cold fingers.

"This was where the original Olympus once stood," Annabeth spoke. "Now the gods have moved on, leaving just this."

"But no one's here," Jason commented. "Not even someone to light the fire. How are we supposed to get help if we can't find it?"

Piper suddenly turned pale. "Oh, no," she muttered.

"Oh no?" Annabeth reached for her dagger from the _Argo II_ armoury. "Uh oh, what?"

"I just remembered something," she said. "My mom mentioned it, but I was in such panic I completely forgot all about it." She ran her cold fingers through her hair in dread. "Homeric hymn. Number twenty-four."

"What is it?" Jason asked.

Piper tried to remember. "It was this thing I read at camp. My mom must have known somehow… it's about Hestia, the Greek counterpart of Vesta. I haven't recited it to memory, but it was a prayer to her of some sorts. 'Hestia, you who tend the holy home of Apollo, come into this house and be at peace with Zeus; draw near, and grant peace upon my prayer.'"

"I know that one," Annabeth said. "Well, I mean I've read it before. It doesn't refer to the first home of the Olympians, Mount Olympus. It refers to Delphi, which is on the southern end of Greece."

Piper broke. She looked completely horrified with herself. "This is all my fault," she started. "We came to the wrong place because I led us here. I should have remembered before."

"It isn't your fault," Jason comforted, grabbing her hand. "We should have realized this anyway."

"And now really isn't the time to feel bad for ourselves," Annabeth added, even though she couldn't see how it was not Piper's fault. "We need to get out of here and to Delphi, and soon."

_Oh, Rachel would be so jealous._

* * *

**_Yes, she would be, Annabeth._**

**Reviews are highly appreciated.**


	14. XIV ANNABETH

**This is a long chapter, guys! Hope you like it.**

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**XIV ANNABETH**

THE THREE HALF-BLOODS BEGAN TO RETRACE THEIR STEPS back to the ship, running as quickly as they dared on the slippery rocks. Piper was absolutely crushed, cursing under her breath the entire time. The freezing winds tore right through Annabeth's sweater, which made it useless.

Jason stopped. "Down here," he remembered, taking them on a turn around a rock face. "This is where the _Argo II _should be—"

The three demigods froze. In front of them, just five meters ahead, slept a twenty-foot tall mountain god. He snored, and several boulders the size of Annabeth's cabin back on the ship shook and rumbled down the hill. Just a two-hundred-yard sprint behind him was the _Argo II._

"Back up… slowly," Annabeth started, gradually retracing her steps. Both Piper and Jason were wide-eyed in surprise. Piper's mouth hung open slightly. Annabeth supposed she herself wasn't too different.

Jason wasn't paying attention to where he was stepping, and walked onto a cluster of loose rocks. He slipped sideways, landing on his hands. He got to his feet quickly, unharmed, but his fall created a mini rock-alanche. The stones hit one another, creating a chain reaction that went from a few rocks tumbling into some larger stones that simultaneously hit a large boulder that brought it several meters downhill until it crashed into a tree. The tree snapped in half with a loud _CRACK!_

None of the demigods moved as they waited to see what would happen. Annabeth's breath came out as short pants, pale white fog appearing in front of her face.

Nothing happened for the longest time. Then the _ourae _opened his eyes and blinked several times. Jaw-dropped in horror, the half-bloods watched as he sat up and stretched, drawing them into the shadows. He looked down and saw them, the expressions flitting through his face in seconds. Surprise. Perplexity. Anger.

He drew himself to his full height, which is considered tall at twenty feet. The _ourae_ roared, and the entire mountain shook.

"Okay, forget that," Annabeth said. "Run!"

They split up in different directions; Jason went off to the mountain god's left, stumbling and cursing whenever he tripped over the uneven stones. Piper went the opposite way with Annabeth.

_Just a two-hundred-meter sprint to the ship,_ she told herself. _We can do this._ She could already see others running about at the helm, the rope ladder hanging down for them to climb.

The _ourae_ howled furiously, reaching down and picking up a boulder the size of a small car. He turned and chucked it right at Annabeth and Piper.

Jason flew in and slammed into them, knocking them out of the way of their (once) inevitable doom. The three of them skidded across the mountain in a demigod snowball, covering the rest of the way to the ship on their backside. Annabeth groggily got to her feet and spat on the stones in front of her, then quickly scaled the rope ladder and leaped over the _Argo II's_ railing just as the ship rose higher into the air. Jason and Piper were already safe.

"Get out of here!" she shouted, although there was no need to. They were already sailing into the sky. The _ourae_ roared, throwing a few more boulders at them that almost all missed. Annabeth didn't relax until Mount Olympus was just a monument in the distance. She collapsed against the foremast, exhausted. She hurt all over from her ten-meter slide, but with some Tylenol and half a day of sleep she'd be back on her feet in no time.

She had almost completely forgotten about the whole point of their visit when Frank asked, "So?"

"So what?" she asked, holding a throbbing head. The others were all gathered on the upper deck.

"So did you get what you needed?" Hazel finished.

Annabeth shook her head. "No," she replied, her throat dry. She swallowed and tried again. "Nothing except for sleeping rock gods."

"With obvious anger management issues," Leo noted, reading data off his Archimedes sphere. "Festus says one of those things he threw at us clipped the hull and shattered a few windows on the lowest deck. It's gonna take me twenty minutes to clean that up."

Hazel turned to Annabeth. "Why?" she asked. "Why wasn't there anything there?"

"We came to the wrong place," Piper explained. "It's all my fault. We needed to go to where the Homeric hymn said to go, to Delphi."

"Whoa whoa whoa," said Percy, holding out his hands in a timeout-T. "What's a Homeric hymn? And what does it have to do with deli? Isn't that ham?"

"The hymn something I read at Camp Half-Blood," Piper continued, running a hand through her hair in exasperation. "It's a prayer to Hestia, Vesta's Greek counterpart." She glanced at Leo expectantly. He sighed and looked it up on his all-knowing Archimedes sphere. He cleared his throat theoretically and began to read aloud.

_"Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo, the Far-shooter at goodly Pytho, with soft oil dripping ever from your locks, come now into this house, having one mind with Zeus the all-wise: draw near, and withal bestow grace upon my song."_ He looked up. "Wow. Poetic much?"

Frank scratched his head. "'Soft oil dripping from your locks'… are we going to find her at a gas station or something?"

"It means we have to go to Delphi," said Annabeth. "The hymn refers to a different home, the home of Apollo."

"I still don't get what this has to do with ham," Percy finally decided.

Hazel rolled her eyes. "Just change our course, Leo."

**-o-O-o-**

By the time Annabeth woke up the next morning they were already in the valley of Phocis. Leo was at the helm, his hot pocket breakfast clenched between his teeth as he ran around fixing things on the ship. The hot pocket was on fire. Jason and Piper stood at the railing, watching the small towns fly underneath them. Percy was still sleeping, and Annabeth didn't know where Hazel or Frank was. She grabbed a quick breakfast banana and ate it as she watched Greece fly by below.

Something was bothering her. A myth about Gaea and Delphi, (and it was one of those weird ones that made Annabeth wonder if her entire existence was the practical joke of some being greater than the gods).

Maybe half an hour later Percy woke and Hazel and Frank showed up. Leo came up to them with the news.

"Well, we get to Delphi in about five minutes," he said. "A long trip from Olympus, and it took all night, but we're here. This better not be another screw up." He glanced pointedly at Annabeth and Piper.

"I hope not," said Hazel.

"Okay, so this should be what we do," Annabeth started. "The hymn refers to a house of Apollo, which is obviously the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, which should be where we start. Or at least, at the ruins of the place. Christians destroyed a lot of it later on in history."

"It seems like a good place to start," Jason admitted.

"Dang those zealous Christians," Leo said jokingly.

"You're insulting around one seventh of the world's population right now, Leo," Hazel warned.

"Oh, awesome," he said, looking around at the group. "So which one of us is it?"

"I'm going," Piper decided. "Our screw up last time was my fault."

"That's cool," said Annabeth, understanding her decision. If she were in her friend's position she would want this chance to redeem herself as well. "I can go too."

"Me too," Percy offered, rubbing his hands together eagerly as if they were going off to the candy store. "This'll be fun."

Frank suddenly frowned. "I just remembered something," he stated. "Doesn't it say in ancient myths that Delphi is Gaea's bellybutton or something?"

Leo tried to cover a laugh so it came out as a snort. "You're joking, right?" he said. He looked around at the others, who were (mostly) dead serious. "Please tell me he's joking."

Annabeth shook her head, the myth she had been trying oh-so-hard to forget returning. "Zeus one day decided he wanted to find the center of the earth, so he sent one eagle flying east and one eagle flying west. Somehow, bending the laws of science and common sense, they crossed paths, indicating the middle of everything—a.k.a., Gaea's navel."

"Or bellybutton," Leo offered as the archaeological site of Delphi appeared from between the clouds. "Bellybutton sounds funnier."

**-o-O-o-**

The _Argo II _dropped Percy, Piper and Annabeth off in the modern town of Delphi, and left to find a parking space above a forest nearby. The demigods blended in with all the other tourists and inhabitants easily. All the main streets were narrow, most of them were one-way, making the town a complex puzzle they needed to figure out. Eventually they passed by a nice, large white building claimed to be the Delphi Museum.

"We're close," Annabeth announced. "The archaeological site is just west from here."

As a matter of fact, a sign beside the museum announced, _Temple of Apollo information here!_

"Imagine our luck," Percy said as they walked over.

The three of them learned some key information about the temple, but the lady at the booth informed them that it was closed for the month. Earthquakes were becoming quite common in the region, although no one could explain why. And even though the temple buildings had added support so that a small tremor couldn't knock a column down, it still wasn't safe.

Of course, they were going anyway.

Percy, Annabeth and Piper crouched behind a bush by the Ancient Delphi town entrance. No one was there. A single bar was lowered across the parking lot entry to stop tourists from arriving, and an active video camera was pointed at the ticket booth. A ten-foot fence surrounded the perimetre. Slowly and cautiously, the demigods ran around the side of the fence to a deserted area and scaled up. No one saw them.

The area was eerily quiet. Annabeth felt herself reach for her dagger in assurance and tried to admire the architecture. It wasn't just the temple of Apollo there, but the entire town of ancient Delphi. Apollo's temple was just the center of it all—the one amazing attraction. The entire city was built against a mountain, a hill, and a very steep cliff. She imagined what the life of a common Greek citizen living here would have been like thousands of years ago. In the distance she could hear the roar of a mountain god echoing through the valleys, and the response of his brothers calling back.

Annabeth began reciting facts unconsciously.

"That amphitheatre can seat five thousand people," she started as they passed by. "Not a lot by standards today, but back then it was basically half or most of the village. There's also a temple to my mom a short jog away from this place called the _Tholos_. And a stadium at the top of this hill. That place could seat over six thousand five hundred spectators, and had a track of a hundred and fifty meters."

They reached the temple. Annabeth knew there were supposed to be tall columns surrounding it—protecting it—but over the course of two millennia they had all fallen down. She counted six rebuilt columns as they crawled under the small rope fence that traced around the boundary of the temple. Peering up at the freestanding columns as they walked between them, the demigods entered the temple. The stone floor was dry and cracked, the rocks mounted on top of each other in a way that would have made sense two thousand years ago, when most of the temple was still there. Annabeth glanced over to their left, back at the cliff. She swallowed nervously and kept walking.

Piper began to climb the stones, which varied in all sizes. Percy put a hand to his eyes to block out the sun.

"Nothing but ruins here," he noted. Piper reached the highest stone and performed a three-sixty.

"I can't see anything either," she told them. "Do you think we're in the wrong place again?"

Something rumbled. Piper fell off the stones, and Annabeth slipped backwards.

"What was—?" was all Percy managed before one of the stone columns performed a dangerous front flip over itself and crumbled on the spot. Two trees collapsed over themselves, forming a large X. Smaller stones began to rumble down the hill and toward the cliff. Annabeth watched in slow-motion horror.

"Earthquake," she said, which basically summed it all up. She looked at the others in terror. "It's an earthquake! We have to get out of here!"

Annabeth helped Piper to her feet and the three demigods raced away from the temple. The ground shook, which made running nearly impossible. They all fell against each other more than once.

"Follow—!" Annabeth yelled, and promptly tripped over her own feet and landed on her face. She got up again and kept running, spitting gravel. "Follow me!" she finished.

"I hate earth!" Piper cried as Annabeth led them up a vicious-steep hill. They reached the summit and threw themselves down a nearby path that led away from Delphi. Percy lost balance and fell forward, Riptide in pen-form clattering out of his grip.

"Come on!" Annabeth urged, and Percy scrambled to his feet, leaving his sword behind.

They sprinted down a second path with trees decorating the sides. This might not have been such a great idea, since they all began to fall down, threatening to squash them. Piper screamed, covering her ears with her hands.

"How long are earthquakes supposed to last?" Percy shouted over the roar of the falling forest.

"This isn't a normal earthquake," Annabeth told him. She suddenly veered to a stop, eyes widening in alarm. "Mother of Medusa—!"

A 100+-year-old tree fell just ahead of them, and if they had kept running it would have crushed them into demigod toothpaste. The three of them climbed over it and kept running, eventually reaching the end of the path. A large circular temple-like area greeted them. Three columns stood behind a rounded mounting of stones. The small area was surrounded by scattered boulders the size of bedside tables. A girl their age sat on one of the stones in the center temple, poking a long stick at a small flame at the center of the temple.

"The _Tholos,"_ Piper breathed. The ground rumbled again.

"Come on!" Annabeth shouted, and they ran between the stones to the temple. As soon as they mounted the steps the earthquakes subsided. No more rumbling. The girl looked up.

"Hey," she said. "I'm Vesta. What's up?"

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**Oh, the chapter is so long, and so much research was required... it deserves reviews.**


	15. XV ANNABETH

**Merry Christmas, guys! Also, Happy Last Day of the Year! Hope you had an awesome 2013!**

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**XV ANNABETH**

ANNABETH HAD MET GODS BEFORE. Some of them were extremely wise and helpful; some were serious but grouchy; but most of the time they were all idiots. (If she said that out loud she'd be turned into a goat on the spot, and she was already sick of goats.)

But if she knew one thing all gods had in common, it was that they all wanted some kind of recognition as to being an all-powerful immortal.

Annabeth began to get down on a knee, but Vesta abruptly asked, "What on mother Gaea are you doing?"

Annabeth got back to her feet. _Okay..._ almost_ all gods wanted recognition._

"Hello," said Percy. "I'm Percy Jackson, and this is my friend Piper and girlfriend Annabeth. It's nice to meet you, Vesta. I know your Greek counterpart."

"Greek counterpart?" the goddess asked, poking at her fire again. She didn't look very godly. She even spoke like a normal twenty-first century teenager. "You mean Hestia? We're not that different, you know. It's why I'm not in a blasted multiple personalities mess." She stopped and grinned at a thought. "I laugh at the other gods.

"But, yeah, I suppose we're different in a few ways," she continued, returning to her task. "All gods are different _somehow_ in their counterparts. I am, right now, slightly harsher than Hestia." She slid off her stone and knelt beside the small flame, blowing on it. "My aspects change with the form of the hearth. The Romans were slightly more war-like, and thus their sense of security was higher than the Greeks'. But the home and family is the same for either. Same goes for Egyptian, English, American, Canadian... and Australian." She looked up at them and grinned. "I love kangaroos."

"I'm sure you do," Piper said respectfully. "But you told our friend Hazel that you would help us on our quest if we could find you."

"Oh, yes," she said, her expression becoming unpleasant. Vesta rose to her feet, smoothing out her T-shirt. Annabeth noticed it was a One Direction touring shirt. "Well, the fates are never kind, and you must understand that. Some…" She took a moment to think about her choice of wording. "…terrible things will happen to you and your friends. I am one of the only four that can help you."

"Protector of life," Annabeth remembered.

Vesta nodded. "Yeah. I'm her. There is also the maintainer, giver, and slayer." There was stillness; the only sound heard was the whistling wind. "The slayer will be your next journey place. Annabeth, do you get how this connects?"

Annabeth didn't like how Vesta had singled her out like that, but assumed it was because she was supposed to be the smart one. "I'll, uh, work on it," she muttered quietly, averting her gaze.

Vesta looked back to their group. "The others are like me," she told them. "The Roman/Greek turmoil changed their personality as well, but not enough for it to trouble them. But it does cause some horrible headaches at times, so watch out, because they could be incredibly unpleasant. Their tasks for you would not be as kind as mine."

Percy was so shocked he took a step backwards. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you mean _tasks?"_

"Tasks to prove worth," Vesta explained, walking her fingers across the stones casually. "You have already performed yours to me by finding me, although Aphrodite gave you a couple hints." She looked up and shrugged. "I'm lenient."

Then she crouched beside her fire and motioned the demigods to do so as well. Once they were at the same height she continued. "This is what will help you," she said. "It is the fire from the original eternal flame from the Temple of Vesta in Rome. I just moved it over here for your convenience. It's what will help you."

"Fire… will help us," Annabeth repeated slowly, hoping she heard that wrong. _To storm or fire the world must fall,_ a small part of her reminded. She drew out a mental baseball bat and began to repeatedly beat her brain.

Vesta nodded. "There are two kinds of fire—healing and destroying. This is the fire that heals all pains."

Piper scratched her head. "Like battle wounds?" she asked.

Vesta grinned slightly. "All pains," she repeated, and sat back. "Now take it."

Percy blinked. "Take it?" he asked, glancing down at it suspiciously. "But it's fire. It'll burn us."

"Weren't you paying attention?" Piper reminded him. "Healing fire, not destroying."

"It's still fire," Annabeth countered.

Vesta just watched, smiling to herself.

"So take it, if you're so certain," Annabeth told Piper. Piper was about to, but she hesitated.

"It's still fire," she repeated.

"I wish Leo were here," Percy noted.

"You cannot leave this temple without the fire," Vesta told them. "It will protect you from Gaea's earthquakes until you reach your ship. If you go now, leaving it behind, you will die."

The thought hung in the air.

"Like, how many?" Percy asked. "One... or two... or all...?"

Vesta shrugged. "I didn't wanna frighten you guys too much," she explained. "But this _is_ Gaea's center, you know."

"Or bellybutton," Piper grumbled. "Bellybutton is _supposed_ to be funnier."

Annabeth ran a hand through her hair nervously. "I'll take it," she decided.

Percy's eyes widened. "Annabeth, you don't have to," he said.

"Yeah, I do," she said. "If I don't we'll be killed upon leaving." She bum-scooted up to the fire and cupped her hands on either side of it. Its heat was bright and hot. She hesitated, then before she could reconsider she snatched it off the ground.

It didn't go out, which basically broke every rule of physics and science right there. It also didn't burn her. The fire just gave out a warm tickling sensation. Piper gasped. Annabeth opened her hands to reveal the flame.

Vesta grinned. "Hurt?" she asked, and Annabeth shook her head.

"It's warm," she explained, "but there's no pain. It's very… relaxing. And soothing."

"Excellent," she replied. "You are safe to go back to your friends now." The four of them got to their feet, and the goddess turned to Annabeth again. "As you have obviously not figured out your next course of action, I will help you." The goddess ran a hand over the stones. "Remember Cassandra's prophecy," she told her. "Remember the House of Hades."

It took a moment to process, but Annabeth understood. "Yes," she said, nodding as vigorously as she dared while holding the flame. "I know now. Thank you, Vesta."

She sat down on the stones, arms crossed. "Well, hurry! You _are_ still on a deadline."

**-o-O-o-**

"Gods, Annabeth," said Leo once they arrived. "Now _you_ have fire powers too? I thought I was special."

"More like this fire is special," she told him, having it still cupped in her hands. In a way she wanted to keep it, but knew that if she accidentally dropped it that would be it. "Do you have somewhere to put it? We'll need it for Athens."

He pulled a small glass vial from his tool belt. "This good?" he asked, holding it out to her. She took it and carefully slipped the fire inside. It kept burning easily.

"Wow," said Hazel. "That's weird."

Annabeth nodded. "Leo, we need to go back to the House of Hades," she said. "It says so in Cassandra's prophecy; 'one backwards the way you came'."

Leo's shoulders slouched but he nodded. "As much as I hate this, you're right," he said. He punched a few controls into his TV remote ship controller and the _Argo II_ changed its direction by a hundred twenty degrees.

"We're going to be meeting the slayer of life there," Annabeth said. She looked at everyone one at a time. "Everyone knows who this will be?"

They all nodded silently.

"Okay," she said, and suddenly the moment became awkward. The others one by one began to head off in their own directions. Annabeth went down to her room, claiming she needed to rest. She had just set her head on the pillow and closed her eyes when she remembered something. She sat back up and walked over to her desk.

Yes. Her Yankees hat. It was where she had left it. She grabbed it and fingered the cap delicately. Would it work now that the Athena Parthenos was found? She placed it on the crown of her head.

She closed her eyes, afraid to see what was happening. So instead she took it off and placed it back on the desk. Annabeth would try it again, just not yet. Another day. She sat down on her bed, rubbing her tired eyes.

There was a knock on the door. "Yes?" she asked.

The door opened a fraction. Percy poked his head in. "May I come in?" he asked. Annabeth moved over on the bed.

"Be my guest," she invited him, and he sat down beside her. There was a silence of a few seconds as they waited for the other to say something.

"You okay?" Percy asked her quietly.

"Fine," she replied, looking down at her hands. "The fire didn't even hurt, I told you already."

"I meant about Tartarus."

"Oh." Annabeth felt herself darken and barriers being put up around her. "Well, then, I don't know if I'm okay or not."

Percy brought her into a hug. "I'm sorry," he told her softly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. "You wouldn't believe how terrified I was," she murmured, almost to herself. "If it weren't for you I would have died for sure. I wouldn't have had the strength to continue. Thank you."

They stayed like that for several more minutes, just enjoying the other's embrace. Annabeth was aware of Percy slipping away and shuffling awkwardly out of the room. Then she fell sideways on her bed and lay there until she fell asleep.

* * *

**I'm listening to 'Burn' by Ellie Gouldings while I write this. **

**How appropriate.**

**(I knew Rick was going to have this Percabeth scene sometime in BoO, so I thought:****_ Well, I might as well get rid of it.)_**

**Who do you think the POV is going over to now? We've already done Percy, Piper, Leo, Annabeth and Hazel... only Jason and Frank left.**


	16. XVI FRANK

**First chapter in 2014! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**XVI FRANK**

FRANK WAS HAVING A NIGHTMARE of being trapped as a goat forever when the ship blew up.

He was on his feet in an instant, just to have the ship rock sideways 45 degrees. Frank tumbled and slid all the way to where his floor met the wall, and right when he found his balance the ship twisted the other way. He landed back on his bed, his pillow unceremonially falling on his head.

By the time he managed to stumble out into the hallway he had tripped, stumbled, and toppled over so many times it was a wonder why he didn't just get insurance for his face. Hazel, Annabeth, Jason and Leo were exiting their rooms as well, looking tired and confused.

"What's going on?" Hazel asked, holding onto her doorframe for support. It must have been one or two in the morning.

"Oh, don't worry, it's just some of my cousins who decided to visit," Leo shouted, his hands flying over his Archimedes sphere. He wore pyjama pants decorated with flaming hammers, and his arms were smoking. "Hazel, we're under attack!"

Percy and Piper bounded down the staircase, and another explosion rocked the ship. Percy completed the last few steps on his face. "There are some crazy gods out there!" he shouted, looking up at them the best he could on the floor. "They're picking up bits of their mountain and chucking them at us. How is that even possible!?"

_"Numina,"_ remembered Jason as Annabeth helped her boyfriend to his feet. "Why are we crossing the mountains anyway?"

"Dang it, guys," said Leo. He was looking at a map of Greece on his sphere. "We're going through the range by mistake. It's right in our path between here and the House of Hades, so—"

The ship pitched sideways, and they heard windows shattering. The intercom buzzed to life and Festus creaked something urgently. Piper was thrown into Jason and Hazel. Leo fell forward on his face.

The others raced upstairs. An explosion had taken five feet off the front of the ship when a large stone had rammed into a crate full of grenades. Leo was going to be fuming about that.

Frank ran over to the railing and peered down. Lots of gods were mad, but these guys definitely needed some anger management therapy sessions. One of them roared, and 'wild' was the only way to describe it. Also, these guys were a lot larger than the other _numina_ they had encountered before. Thirty feet tall, these ones were, at least. Frank slowly shrank back behind the railing.

"What do we do?" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Get the heck out of here!" Annabeth screamed back, the wind blowing her hair in every direction.

Their mechanic staggered up the stairway to the upper deck, holding his Archimedes sphere loosely in one hand. "Yeah, yeah, here!" he muttered, setting it down on the floor. "On it!"

A large boulder the size of a trailer—or the entire campsite—sailed in the air toward them. "Hit the deck!" Jason shouted, and Frank turned away. The _Argo II _rocked dangerously, sending them all skidding toward the other side of the ship. Hazel screamed and would have slipped right off if she hadn't grabbed the mast.

_This ship won't last much longer,_ Frank realized with dread.

"Leo!" Piper shrieked.

"This is stupid!" he replied, crawling back to his feet from where he had fallen. "I'm struggling to reach the helm of a two hundred foot flying boat!"

CRACK! One of the stones had managed to hit them.

And then they were falling.

Frank instinctively turned into an eagle, hovering in the air, but the _Argo II _was still plummeting rapidly... or the mountain was soaring upwards incredibly fast. Frank soared down and landed on the deck, digging his claws into the woodwork of the ship.

"Zhang, the backup generator!" Leo shouted. He was doing the best he could with his Archimedes sphere to slow the descent of the ship and hold on at the same time.

Frank turned back into a human and stumbled over to the other side of the deck, tripping and cursing. The mountain gods howled somewhere below.

_Sorry, _he thought. _To__day is_ not_ the day I become dinner._

He made it over to the control dash and noticed all the complicated-looking buttons and pulleys and controls. Although tempted to, he didn't start pressing all the shiny ones.

Backup generator? Okay.

Frank grabbed the control dash, and started looking for labels.

Over on the right side there was a lever labelled _B.G._ As Frank stumbled over to it, he desperately hoped it didn't stand for 'baby gangster' and start playing rap songs Leo had probably recorded himself.

Fortunately for the lives (and ears) of the crew, the ship levelled out instead and stayed hovering in the sky for a moment. Then it slowly crawled back to a higher altitude. The mountain gods were starting to get mad that their dinner was escaping them, but Leo managed to make it over to the helm and take control. Soon the mountains were just a monument in the distance.

Frank let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. He relaxed.

"Well, then," Percy commented, stumbling to his feet. "I think my turn for guard-duty is finished. Who's next?"

* * *

**Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that absolutely ridiculous chapter. But this happened for a reason... as you'll see in two chapters.**

**Please leave a review! And happy holidays! Hope the weather's nicer than it is over wherever you are, (because obviously, here in Canada, it's, like, -40 ****with the wind).**


	17. XVII FRANK

**This is sort of a filler chapter, but a long filler chapter. Hope you like it!**

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**XVII FRANK**

THEY FINALLY ARRIVED TO WHERE IT ALL STARTED… the House of Hades.

_Ooh, this place?_ Mars started. _You did some amazing things at this place… praetor Zhang._ Frank could practically see his father grinning and elbowing him knowingly, as if they shared some sort of inside joke.

_Please go away,_ he thought. Frank found that if he asked nicely enough the two gods would leave him alone for a few hours… at best. It worked most of the time.

The _Argo II_ stopped above the River Acheron, hovering in the air. There weren't many fishers or tourists, and the weather seemed exceptionally stormy. Frank stood at the stern of the ship, watching the river wash out beneath them.

Hazel walked up and leaned against the railing beside him. "You okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he replied casually. "I just have _really_ mixed feelings about this place." They turned and joined the others at the other side of the ship.

"So, basically we're going to meet the slayer of life somewhere down there," Leo started, running his fingers over his bronze sphere as an unconscious twitch. An awfully daunting twitch, since if he did something wrong the _Argo II _could explode into a larger-than-life-sized baking oven. "And we need volunteers. Or sacrifices."

Piper elbowed him hard.

"I can go," Percy offered. He glanced over at Hazel and Frank. "You guys haven't been on many mini-missions," he noted. Frank had an uncanny feeling that he was the one being spoken to. "Plus, this guy might…"

"Yeah," Hazel finished quickly. "We can go." She slipped her hand into Frank's, and he squeezed.

_Oh, cool! We gonna go blow up some heads or something?_

Frank groaned internally, but on the outside he tried for a grin. "Sure," he replied.

**-o-O-o-**

The rope ladder dropped them to the ground, and the three of them walked over to the temple of Necromanteion. Frank passed by familiar landmarks and felt a chill go down his spine. The wind was bitter and cold and not at all summer-like.

"Good memories at this place, eh?" Percy tried.

"Yeah," Hazel replied. "I just love fighting giants created to oppose magic and psychopathic mothers of bull-creatures."

"And using an army of dead soldiers to fight one of monsters," Frank added.

"And closing the Doors of Death," Percy finished, "that for some reason look like an Empire State Building elevator."

Their joking around subsided as they reached a larger cluster of stones. Frank bet that a few thousand years ago they had been set up to form something, but now they were fallen and crumbled and anything but building-like. A few of the farther away rocks were arranged in a new pattern to form a large throne monument nearly ten feet tall. The breeze seemed exceptionally chilling over there, like an evil presence was waiting for some stupid half-bloods to walk by in so that it could attack. The demigods stumbled over.

A man reclined sideways across the throne, playing Candy Crush on a black iPad. He wore a cool black leather jacket over a normal white T-shirt, and was also eight feet tall. It took him a few moments to realize he had company, but when he did he paused his game and flourished the tablet, and it disintegrated into the air.

"Welcome," Thanatos said, "friends and saviours of Olympus."

**-o-O-o-**

Frank remembered the last time he met Thanatos, the death god had promised they'd meet again under less pleasant circumstances. Well, the end of the world is basically as unpleasant as it gets.

"My, my, it is very good to see you all again," he started. "Not very happy times, but they'll get better. Hopefully."

"Uh, Thanatos," Percy acknowledged, looking unsure, maybe debating if he should kneel or bow or do some ancient death-god worship dance.

"I know why you're here," he said, getting straight to the point, slipping into an upright position.

"You do?" Hazel asked, although the reason why should have been obvious. He was supposed to be expecting them.

"Yes. You want to ask for my help. And I'm supposed to give it to you. Very well. If you insist, I'll help you. No need to thank me."

Frank wanted to note that they hadn't said anything, but decided it would be better for his health not to.

"This is what will aid you on your journeys," Thanatos explained, reaching into the folds of his leather jacket and pulling a small vial. Inside there was something steamy and black, but Frank couldn't make it out from the distance. "Do you have any idea what I hold in my hand now?" he asked them.

Percy and Frank turned to Hazel, naturally assuming she had the answer. Obviously she didn't. "Uh… black baking powder?" she guessed.

Thanatos grinned. "This is fire made of pure death," he told them, swishing around the flame in its container. "It will consume anything, because instead of relying on the body it eats at the soul."

Frank felt a pair of icicles do the itsy-bitsy-spider down his back. "The, uh, soul?" he clarified, hoping that what he said somehow had a deeper and not so aggressive meaning.

"Yes, Frank Zhang, or do you think I'm wrong?" Thanatos raised an eyebrow.

Frank wasn't about to argue with a guy who held a soul-eating, all-consuming vial of black fire. "No, no," he said hurriedly, holding his palms up. _Please don't kill me, _he wanted to add.

_Wimp!_ Ares shouted.

_Shut up, _Frank snarled back.

Thanatos continued to admire his vial of black death. "If this were thrown at a monster, it wouldn't go to Tartarus," he told the demigods. "It'd be gone forever. And if this was thrown at a human, they'd feel immeasurable pain forever."

Frank glanced sideways at his friends. Percy looked slightly green, and Hazel was using her _spatha_ for support. "What do we have to do to prove ourselves to you?" Percy asked first, taking a step forward.

Thanatos looked perplexed for a few moments. "Ah, yes," he said, finally remembering. "I'm supposed to give you an assignment to prove your worthiness. Now, let's see…"

He summoned his iPad again, and he clicked on an app labelled DANGEROUS QUESTS. Frank noticed as the page loaded that the full title was PERILOUS AND SUICIDAL QUESTS FOR DESPERATE/INSANE/STUPID DEMIGODS.

Frank wondered if he used that app a lot.

"Hmm… let's see," he started, scrolling through his list. "Number one: Find the fountain of youth. Now that looks interesting, but has a quest time of twelve years. So no. Number two… retrieve the Deathly Hallows? That would be good, but apparently completed. Hmm… recover Excalibur? Nah, too easy." He spent a few more moments like this, the three demigods standing there awkwardly and waiting.

"Oh, this will be fun," he decided. He turned the iPad over and showed them a photo of nine girls dressed up in identical green gowns. At the top of the page the word MUSES was written.

"These are the nine muses," he told them, as if the caption didn't already explain that. "This is Calliope, this one is Clio, this one Thalia, et cetera et cetera."

Percy blinked. "I have a friend named Thalia," he announced.

Thanatos shrugged. "It is a common Greek name. Now, this last one is the important one." His finger hovered above the picture of the last muse. "This is Terpsichore, the muse of dance. Her emblem is the lyre. And I want you to steal it."

"You want us to steal," Hazel clarified, looking uneasy, "…from a muse. Won't that get us incinerated?"

"Most likely," Thanatos decided. "She lives over the hills in that direction." The iPad disintegrated again as he pointed to their right.

"Alright. Is there anything else?" Percy asked with just the slightest hint of disdain, maybe wondering if Thanatos was going to throw in a deadline as well.

"Ah, yes," he said. "You have a deadline too."

Frank face-palmed.

"One hour," he continued as if Frank had not done this. "Also, be warned,"—the death god lowered his voice—"Terpsichore is a nice muse, but if she discovers you are her enemy and not her friend she will play a magic song of exactly fifty notes, and you will be forced to dance a dance until you die."

"Death by dance," Hazel muttered. "That one's new."

"Is it too late to search for the fountain of youth?" Frank pleaded.

Thanatos checked a watch. "Fifty-nine minutes, thirty seconds," he informed them. "You best be going."

* * *

**...And you will see what happens next in the next chapter. So review! They're my motivation. ;)**


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